


The Three of Us

by Crash



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-11
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2018-10-30 13:54:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 60,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10878165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crash/pseuds/Crash
Summary: Faith shows up and Buffy questions her sexuality in regards to Faith and Cordelia. My guess would be they end up together, but what do I know? I'm only writing this.





	1. Chapter 1

It was late at night, in a moonlit Restfield Cemetery. With her back against the mausoleum, Buffy looked at the ten vamps encroaching on her,” What a lousy time to lose Mr. Pointy,” she mumbled to herself. “This isn’t going to be anywhere near as easy as it looks.”

“Well, well, boys, it looks like there’s somethin’ special on the menu tonight.” The lead vampire smirked, “A little ‘Slayer du jour’”.

“I don’t know,” Buffy replied, “the main course may be a bit too tough for your liking, but you’re welcome to try.”

“I’m fairly certain we won’t have too much of a problem.” another vampire responded as he twirled Mr. Pointy. “It doesn’t look like you have anything left to fight with!”

“I don’t need that, I’ll just improvise and you’ll still be dust when I’m done.” Buffy glared. Using her Slayer senses, she started to track each of the vampires. ‘ _Giles said I should be able to do this,_ she thought, _I just have to concentrate.’_ As she picked up the sense of each of the vampires, she could feel something else. Another force unlike any demon or vampire she had ever felt before.

_‘I don’t know what the hell that is, but I hope it stays on the other side of the wall.’_ She thought.

Suddenly she felt two of the vampires head around to the far side of the mausoleum. ‘ _Okay_ ,’ she thought, ‘ _if they get up on the roof, I can’t get too far out from the wall or they’ll get behind me and I’m really screwed. As long as I can feel them, I’ll know where they are. I should be able to handle this without too much trouble.’_

Her head snapped up out of her stance as she felt the two vampires behind her disappear. She stretched her slayer senses but all she could feel was that unknown tingle. ‘ _Okay, two less vamps will help, but I really wanna know what the hell that thing is.’_

At that moment all eight vamps stopped and stared up at the top of the mausoleum. Unable to look up and behind her, Buffy just looked at the vamps and readied herself to attack.

Atop the crypt, there stood a girl, silhouetted in the moonlight, wearing a long black duster. Her arms to her sides, raven locks floating on the light breeze, she looked down on the group of vamps with a slight smirk.

“Is this a private party or can anybody play?” came from behind Buffy in a low smoky voice. The girl shrugged the duster off her shoulders revealing her almost bare shoulders. The duster slowly slid off the roof of the crypt revealing the girl standing there, holding a slim sword in each hand. As Buffy started to turn her head, the duster landed open beside her. Nestled inside, were four stakes. Grinning and not taking her eyes off the vamps, Buffy picked up two stakes from the coat and said, “Let’s get this party started!”

“Get them!” yelled the lead vamp. Readying herself, Buffy was surprised when she saw the dark haired girl flip off the roof to land in front of her. The girl decapitated two of the vamps as she landed. As they exploded into dust, with the swords cutting the air around her, she sliced the arms off a third, when he stumbled towards Buffy, she said “Here let me give you a hand.” as she rammed a stake into his heart. The girl had dusted another vamp and cut one in half. “You don’t really have a leg to stand on.” Buffy said, staking him as his top half tried to crawl away.

Watching the fluid movements of the girl as she fought with the three remaining vamps, the moonlight reflecting off the flashing steel as the swords whirled around her body. The three vamps were staying outside the circle of flying steel, and trying to find an opening. As the girl moved forward towards two of them, the third got in behind her and tried to make a grab for her. Buffy lunged forward thrusting the stake through his back. Her eyes popped open in amazement as a sword skimmed up over her shoulder and past her ear, then came back around in front of the girl. With a feral growl almost lost in the whistling swords, she decapitated the last two vampires.

“Don’t do that.” She said quietly, “you could get hurt.” She stood there, in the moonlight, looking at Buffy; the swords in her hands lowered, but out a little from her sides. Buffy ran her eyes from her black heavy boots, up the black leather pants to the tight black tank top, to the full red lips and dark eyes framed in long dark hair.

“Umm, yeah.” Buffy mumbled. “You, ahh, you’re pretty good with those,” she said as she motioned towards the swords, “have you been using them long?” Buffy dropped her head, _Oh God,_ she thought, ‘ _I’m starting to babble like Willow!’_

The girl tilted her head to the side as she looked at Buffy, “Yeah, a couple of days actually.” She said sarcastically, as she moved to pick up her coat. Buffy watched as she gently laid the swords down, and then put her duster on. From somewhere inside she pulled a rag out, picked up one of the swords and started to wipe it down. Silently it disappeared into the duster when she had finished.

As she reached for the other one, Buffy asked,” What kind of sword is that, I’m not familiar with it?”

The girl furrowed her eyebrows as she stopped and looked at Buffy. “It’s Japanese, it’s a katana. Why?”

“I’m just curious, I’ve never seen one around here before” Buffy replied.

“You’ve seen a lot of swords around here?” the girl questioned, keeping the second katana in her hand as she turned to face Buffy. The girl’s eyes narrowed as she looked Buffy over. “What reason would you have for seeing a variety of weapons like that anyway? Where’d you learn to use a stake? There’s something about you that bothers me. I can feel a vamp from a long way off, but you’re giving me some weird kinda vibe and right now, I don’t trust you. Who or what, the hell are you?”

“Well, I’m.....”

“There you are slayer!” Spike yelled as he rounded the corner of the mausoleum. “I’ve been... ERK!” as he was brought up short by a sword in his throat. Looking at the glare from the dark haired girl holding the sword on him, “Slayer, a little help here, please?” he managed to squeak out.

“I’ll help alright,” the dark girl said, “I’ll help you straight to Hell!”

“Umm.... “Buffy said as she laid her hand on the girl’s outstretched arm, “I think he’s talking to me.”

“You?” was the cold response as the dark haired girls head snapped around to stare at Buffy.

“Yes, I’m Buffy Summers,” she said looking down, “The Vampire Slayer.”

“No, I’m the slayer.” The girl spat out.

“Well you see,” Spike interrupted.

“Shut up or die.” the girl muttered, pushing her sword into Spike a little harder, forcing him back and away from Buffy. Looking between the two of them, her eyes flashed with anger, and as she dropped her sword, she stepped into Spike and hammered him in the face with her fist, snapping his head back, and then kicked him in the balls. Spike, grabbed his balls as he dropped to his knees, and then slowly fell over sideways. He moaned, laying in the foetal position in the dirt, the blood from his nose slowly seeping into the ground.

“That should hold him for a bit.” she said as she turned to Buffy.

“Why did you do that?” Buffy asked.

“He’s a vamp, and I don’t know if the two of you are working together, so I just incapacitated him till I can figure out what’s going on, then I’ll dust him”

“I’ve known Spike for awhile, and since he got that chip, he’s a pain, but he doesn’t hurt anybody.”

“Wait, he’s a friend of yours?” the girl asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I guess.” Buffy replied. “He helps us out when we need it.”

“Okay, now I know you’re a demon of some sort. That explains the weird vibe and the Vampire friends.” the dark girl said as she started to raise her sword towards Buffy.

“No,” Buffy said as she put her hands on her hips, “I told you, I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

 “What do you mean ‘You’re the Slayer’?” she asked, staring at Buffy.

“Well, several years ago I was called. In each generation one is chosen to...”

“I know all that crap. I got the same shit. What I wanna know is why you think it’s you?”

“I’ve been killing all kinds of vampires and demons in this town for the last five years. The Watchers Council told me I’m the Slayer, my Watcher tells me I’m the Slayer, and the demons and vamps call me the Slayer. So excuse me for thinking I’m the Slayer!”

“You’ve been a Slayer for five years?” the girl asked, as she lowered her sword. “I was called about two years ago. I thought the Slayer had been killed and that’s why I was called.”

“Well I definitely didn’t get that memo.” Buffy snarked. “Give me a hand with Spike and we’ll go see Giles.”

“Who the fuck is Giles?” the girl asked.

“He’s my Watcher.”

“Oh.” The girl hesitated, “yeah, okay I guess. But keep him in front of me where I can see him.” she motioned to Spike. “Even if he is your ‘friend’, he’s still a vamp, and I don’t trust either one of you yet.”


	2. Chapter 2

Spike was still leaning on Buffy as they walked up to Giles’ porch. Leaning further into the Slayer, Spike whispered, “She ain’t said much, ‘as she?”

”No, she hasn’t.” Buffy whispered back, “I get the feeling she doesn’t say much anyways.”

As they got to Giles door, Spike sat on the porch, “I’ll stay here for a bit. I need to recover more.”

“Sure.” Buffy replied as she knocked on the door. The Girl stood on the sidewalk watching Spike and Buffy.

Giles opened the door, “Hello, Buffy. Please come in. Spike? Are you coming as well?”

“No, I’ll be there in a bit. I’ll ‘ave a smoke first.”

Buffy turned to the girl and said “You may as well come in and meet everybody. It’ll be easier to talk to you if we’re all in the same room.” Giles looked up in surprise, “Sorry, I didn’t see you there. My name is Rupert Giles.” He extended his hand to the girl. She just looked at it, then back at him and said “Faith.” as she walked into the house.

“Right!” Giles said as he closed the door. “This way.” He walked into the living room, “Everyone, this is Faith. Faith this is Willow, Tara, Xander, Anya, and of course you’ve met Buffy.”

The group looked up at Faith. “Hi.” She said as she nervously looked around, then down at the floor.

“Hi.” They chorused. Xander’s jaw slowly dropped as he stared at Faith. Anya looked at Faith, then back to Xander and elbowed him. “Why don’t you look at me like that?” she yelled, and then got up and stormed out of the room.

“Anya, wait, I can explain!” Xander yelped as he started to follow her out of the room. “Sorry. It's nice to meet you.” He said to Faith on the way out of the living room.

“Don’t mind them, they’re always like that.” Willow smiled as she looked at the girl. Faith just stared at the floor.

“So, what can we do for you?” Giles asked as he looked between Buffy and Faith.

“Nothin’.” Faith replied. Giles arched an eyebrow as he looked to Buffy. She shook her head, “She says she’s a slayer.” Buffy spoke up. “She killed 7 vampires in front of me and almost killed Spike.”

The entire room stared at Faith. “A – A – Slayer?” Giles stuttered. “I don’t know of any others. Since when? Who’s your watcher? The council didn’t say anything about another slayer!” He shook his head as he furiously wiped his glasses. “Not that they would have said anything anyways.” He looked back to Faith.

“How can you be a Slayer?” Willow challenged, “Buffy’s the Slayer, there is only one! It says so in the manual. Are you lying? You must be lying, Buffy’s the slayer. What are you? Are you a Demon, or something? Who sent you? What are...” Tara reached out and grabbed Willows arm to stop the babble. 

“I-I can feel the s-strength in her aura.” Tara whispered to Willow, while furtively stealing glances at Faith. “It’s very s-similar to Buffy’s. I think she may be t-telling the t-truth.”

“How can you say that?” Willow hissed at her. “Buffy’s the Slayer!”

“I kn-now, but I think we s-should talk to her and f-find out. B-but don’t be s-surprised if she is.” Tara whispered back.

“You should listen to Blondie, Red.” Faith said as she glared at Willow. “Slayer hearing ya know.” tapping her ear with a finger. Tara blushed fiercely as Willow blanched.

“Yes, well, let’s get back on track here.” Giles started. “Your name is Faith...“ 

“Yup.”

“Anything else?” Giles asked.

“Nope”

“Well then, who’s your watcher?” Giles sighed.

“They’re dead.” Faith said as a sad look passed across her eyes.

“Oh. I-I’m, ah, sorry to hear that.” Giles said. “When did it occur?”

“About four hours after I met her.” Faith quietly answered.

“What happened?” Giles asked softly.

“We were walking through a warehouse district, following a vamp. It went into a warehouse and we went in after it. We were jumped, and she was killed.”

“What did you do?”

“I ran.” Faith whispered.

“Hey,” Spike said as he walked up behind Faith. She quickly turned and punched him in the face with a couple of quick jabs, then kicked him in the balls again. Spike just groaned as he slid to the floor.

“Don’t sneak up on me.” She said to his inert form.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on Spike. He hasn’t done anything to you.” Buffy commented.

“He’s still a vamp and I don’t trust him.” Faith answered. “And I still don’t really understand what’s going on here. You say you’re the Slayer, and he’s your watcher.” She said as she pointed at Giles. “But who the fuck, are all the rest of these people. That one that left with her panties in a wad, feels like a demon of some sort, and these two have some kinda mojo going on,” as she indicated Tara and Willow.

“Wow,” Buffy said, “that’s the most you’ve said since I met you.”

“Enough,” Giles interrupted. “We need to find out more about Faith. We can explain everything as we go along. Now Faith, please have a seat and continue with telling us what happened.”

Faith moved over to the couch and sat where she could see everybody in the room. She held her hands in her lap and looked at the floor. “What do you need to know?”

“What’s with Spike?” asked Xander as he walked back in with Anya. She stared at Faith. “He’s mine. You stay away from him. He will not be your orgasm buddy.”

“Anya! SHHH!” Xander yipped as he grabbed her and pulled her away from Faith. “I’m yours, so don’t worry about it, Okay?”

“I saw the way you looked at her!” Anya glowered. “It’s my duty to tell her to stay away.”

“Umm, it’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about. I’m not interested in taking him away from you.” Faith told Anya. “I might borrow him for an hour or so.” She smirked. Anya blushed and turned back towards Faith with her fists clenched.

“Anya, she’s just joking relax!” Xander said as he tugged Anya to the other side of the room. “Just calm down, I’m with you, alright.”

“OKAY!” Giles yelled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Just forget all of that and let’s get back to Faith. Now you were saying?”

“When my watcher was killed, I ran.” She said softly. Faith suddenly stood up and started to leave the room, “Look, it’s gettin’ late, so I’m gonna go. It, ahh, was nice to meet ya, and maybe I’ll see you around sometime. OK? ”

“Wait,” Giles yelled, “Please. I need to talk to you about this. Can you come by tomorrow? It may be better if just the two of us talk about it. Would that be alright?”

Faith looked at him, evaluating him with a cold hard stare. Giles stood there hopefully, waiting for her to reach a decision.

“Yeah, I’ll try.” With that Faith turned, stepped over Spike and left.

“That went well.” Buffy said. “I’m not surprised though. She didn’t say a thing from Restfield to here. I won’t be surprised if we never see her again.”

“You may be right Buffy. She doesn’t really seem to trust anyone.” Giles muttered aloud as he polished his glasses again. “That’s all I really need is another slayer with an attitude.”

“Giles, are you saying I have an attitude?” Buffy laughed.

“Right, I’ve gotten you confused with the _other_ Slayer, the one named Buffster.” he smiled back. “Xander, can you help Spike get back to his crypt? I don’t really need him moaning all over my carpet all night.”

“Sure Giles, we were about to go anyways. Come on Anya, we can throw Spike in the trunk and then go looking for railroad tracks to drive over!”

“Xander!” Willow yelped, “You can’t do that to him! He’s hurt!” Tara just giggled at her girlfriend while everyone else rolled their eyes.

“It’s ok Will, I’m just joking.” Xander said as he helped Spike to his feet. “Man, you look like you got hit by a truck.”

“Nah, it was two bloody trains.” Spike growled. “What the ‘ell did I ever do to her?”

“Maybe she does know you.” Buffy laughed as Spike shot her a glare. “See you guys later.”

“We’re g-going as well.” Tara said as she stood up from the table with Willow. “We’ve got some s-studying to do, and it w-won’t get done here.” Grabbing Willows hand, they started to leave.

“I didn’t know you guys were taking anatomy courses.” Xander quipped.

“Ha, ha, ha, it’s biology!” Willow spat back, as Tara blushed.

“Y-y-ou should’ve quit while you were a-ahead Willow.” Tara smiled. “We’ll s-see you guys tomorrow.”

After Giles saw the others out, he walked over to the chair opposite of Buffy on the couch and sat. “So,” he started, “tell me what you think. There’s something that’s bothering you about our new friend.” He quietly waited while Buffy gathered her thoughts.

“I don’t know Giles, I’m really unsure. I find it hard to believe that there’s another slayer. On the one hand I hope so, but on the other, I’m afraid it’s some kind of trick.”

“Well, tell me what happened tonight.”

“I was going through Restfield and I got jumped by about 12 vamps. I staked two of them, but then I dropped Mr. Pointy, and I got backed up against a crypt. It wasn’t looking very good. I was just hoping to hold them off ‘til Spike got there. When I was using my slayer senses to track the vamps, I felt two of them take off around the backside of the crypt. And that’s when I felt her.”

“You could feel her?” Giles furrowed his brows in thought.

“Yeah, it was like the weirdest thing I’ve ever felt. Not like a vamp or a demon, but it was strong, a humming of sorts. She said she could feel it as well. She thought I was a demon or something.”

Giles looked at Buffy pensively. “If she is a Slayer, you may have some kind of connection. It will be interesting to investigate that.” He stood and went to the desk to retrieve his journal and pen. “Please, continue Buffy.” he said as he sat down again.

“She leapt off the top of the crypt with a sword in each hand and did in two vamps as she landed. I’ve only seen somebody use a sword like that in those kung fu flicks Xander watches. She was really good Giles. I just stood behind her and cleaned up her leftovers. When she took Spike down the first time, well you saw her the second time. It was smooth, quick, almost flowing.” Buffy paused as she remembered Faith turning on Spike.

“You almost sound as if you admire her.” Giles answered. “We’ll have to look into this a little deeper. I’ve got some contacts at the Council I can call. They should be able to tell me something about whether another Slayers been called or not.”

Buffy stood, and speaking in a low voice, “She said she was called about two years ago. Isn’t that when Kendra died?”

“Hmmm, yes, that would be about the right time frame. With her Watcher being killed so soon after, the Council may not have been informed of her being found. This will be interesting. Buffy? How do you feel about another Slayer?” Giles looked to Buffy as he was walking with her to the door.

“I think it would be a good thing. I’d have a better chance at surviving.” She replied.

“It would make your life easier, but we have to be sure about this. I’ll see you tomorrow”

“Thanks Giles, good luck with her.”

As he closed the door, ‘ _I have a feeling it will require much more than luck_ ,’ he thought to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

Slowly the dark slayer walked through the streets of Sunnydale towards Giles. Not sure if she could or should talk to him, she was warring within herself. Part of her wanted to trust him and tell him all the things she’d been unable to tell anyone else and part of her knew what would happen if she did trust somebody. Everyone she’d ever loved or trusted had left or hurt her somehow. So many memories of having her heart ripped out.

She thought of the blonde slayer and the feelings that she evoked. There was something about her that Faith couldn’t quite pin down. Flitting around the edges of her consciousness, it teased her, toyed with her. Like the memory of the feeling when Buffy had reached out and touched her arm in the graveyard. She’d never felt anything like that before. Sparks ran right up her arm and into her brain. It’s the only reason she didn’t kill that Spike vamp right then.

 ‘ _Okay,’_ she thought, ‘ _there’s somethin’ goin’ on here and I need to know more. I gotta get it figured out, so I’ll have ta talk to this watcher guy. Then I can come up with some kinda plan.’_

She looked around at the town, taking in her surroundings. ‘ _Might not be a bad place to stay. It don’t snow.’_ She smiled and turned towards Giles house.

Giles arose from his reading when he heard the knock at the door. Opening it, he smiled, “Faith, I’m glad you could make it.” He turned and headed for the living room leaving her standing at the door. She waited for a second then stepped through the door after him.

“Did I pass the first test?” she asked. “You should go close it; you never know what can crawl through an open door.”

“Yes, well, just making sure you’re not a vampire.” He said as he went to close the door.

“The fact that I walked here in broad daylight didn’t tip you off?”

“You may be a Day walker.” He answered. “Please have a seat. Would you like some tea or something before we start?”

“Just a soda thanks.”

Giles handed her the soda, and put his tea down on the coffee table, making himself comfortable. Faith sat on the couch across from him, looking around the room. The silence stretched out for a few minutes as they sized each other up.

“Where are you from Faith” Giles asked as he pulled his notebook towards him.

“Boston.”

“How did you end up here?”

“After my Watcher died, I started to look for the vamp that killed her. I heard he was here, but I ain’t started to look for him yet.”

“Faith,” Giles started, “I talked to a couple of contacts on the Watchers Council last night. They said that two years ago a Slayer was called in the Northeast United States.” Faith tensed when he told her and started to get up. “Relax,” he said as he motioned her back to her seat. “I didn’t tell them you were here; I just enquired if another slayer had been called. It wasn’t an official call. I’m just trying to verify your story. I understand that you don’t trust us, but we’re also not sure about you. I need you to tell me about you, where you’re from, and what you want. We each have to earn the others trust. Okay?”

“Sure. I’ll try to remember that.” Faith said quietly, looking away from Giles.

“What have you done for training?”

“I hooked up with a Sensei in Denver for about a year. He said I was the best student he ever had.”

“Yes, well, that’s good. Did you do any training with your Watcher?” Giles queried as he made another notation in his book.

“No, she pretty much went through her ‘Chosen’ spiel and then she died.” Giles could see the sadness creep across her face as she remembered what happened.

“I know it’s hard, But I need you to tell me what happened. Take as much time as you need.” Faith looked at him, hearing the sympathy and understanding in his voice.

“Like I said last night, we followed a vamp into a warehouse and got jumped. There was five of ‘em. Four, I guess you could call them regular vamps.” as she spoke, her voice and her visage hardened. “Then there was Kakistos. He’s the one who killed Rose. He’s the one I’m looking for.”

“I’ve heard of him.” Giles told her. “I’m sorry, but I need more details about what happened.”

Faith sighed and looked at the floor. “Rose and I were able to dust two of the vamps, and then Kakistos showed up. He grabbed Rose and started to beat her. The vamp she’d been fightin with grabbed me and held me while Kakistos killed her.” Faith had clenched her fists so that her knuckles were white. “He broke her arms and legs one at a time, then he started to cut her, while they made me watch.” Giles paled as she continued in an emotionless voice to describe what happened. “She looked right at me as he was workin’ on her, and yelled for me to run. He just laughed at her and told her that he was going to enjoy killing the ‘weak, powerless Slayer’. I pulled my shit together enough to get an arm free, and punched the other vamp still holdin’ my other arm and got out of there. I went back later and she was spread all over the warehouse. I’ve been looking for him ever since.”

“Faith,” Giles said, “please look at me.” Faith slowly raised her head up, hatred and vengeance etched across her face. “It’s not your fault. It was her duty to protect you and save you. That’s what she did. You couldn’t save her; you had been a Slayer for a few hours. You saved yourself to fight again. As Buffy likes to say, ‘the First Rule of Slaying is: DON”T DIE.’ It’s a very good rule. I know it’s hard, but please don’t blame yourself.”

“Yeah, right.” Faith stared at him. “Just keep tellin' yourself that. I’m sure it’ll work.” She sighed, “I’ve had enough of this touch-feely stuff for now. I’m leavin'.”

“Alright,” Giles told her, “I understand. I am glad you came by today Faith. I do want to spend more time with you. Buffy and her friends will be here around 3:30. If you like, you could come by and spar with her. Maybe patrol with her later? I don’t want to push you into anything, but the more time we spend together the sooner we’ll build that trust I was talking about.”

“Do you believe I’m a Slayer?” She asked as she started for the door.

“I believe that the possibility is there Faith. I am a cautious man, who doesn’t make rash statements. Like I said we need to build trust first.”

“Yeah, I’ll think about comin’ by.” With that she put her sunglasses on and headed out into the afternoon.


	4. Chapter 4

Buffy walked up to Giles’ home and knocked. “Hi, how’d it go?” she asked as Giles let her in.

“Okay, come in please.” Giles ushered her into the living room. “She told me she’s from Boston, and the details of what happened to her watcher. I checked with the council, and there was a slayer called around there about two years ago, that was never found. I’m waiting to hear back on the Watcher’s name, hopefully that will help.”

“What else do we do?” Buffy asked as she flopped on the couch and dropped her book bag onto the floor. “How do we deal with this? I didn’t sleep well last night. Wondering, what does this all mean? Can I quit? Lead a normal life? What?”

“I asked myself a lot of questions last night as well. If she is a Slayer, it will make a difference. The Council though, may not let her stay here.”

“What!” Buffy squeaked as she sat up. “How could they not?”

“Think of it Buffy. Two Slayers. One stays on the Hellmouth and one to go wherever they’re needed.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t help me much.” She said as she flopped down again.

“Yes, well, it’s not always about you. I did ask her to come by this afternoon. I would like you to spar with her if possible, just to see what she’s capable of. We need to build a rapport with her, to get her to trust us, and for us to learn to trust her. Her spending time with us will allow us to accomplish that goal sooner.”

“I won’t have a problem kickin’ her ass,” Buffy stated. Holding her hand up to stave off Giles’ complaint, “I know, get her to trust us.”

“Yes, thank you Buffy.” Giles shook his head as he smiled at her.

“Hey Scoobies!” Willow chirped as she came through the door with Tara and Xander. “Time to save the world again?”

“Not today,” Buffy grinned. “I called and cancelled the Apocalypse 'cause I just had my nails done.”

“Good,” Xander replied, “That means I won’t have to bruise later on.”

“Right,” Giles spoke up. “Things to do. Buffy, you can go down and get ready to train. I’ll be there shortly. The rest of you can start to research a vampire named Kakistos. He is the one that killed Faith’s Watcher and why she came here. We will try and help her as much as we can.”

“Why are we doing it?” Xander asked. “She should be doing her own research!”

“Yes, well, Mr. Harris, for her to help us, we must help her.” Giles reprimanded him.

“Are we sure she’s a Slayer?” Willow asked.

“No, but with what I learned today there is a strong possibility she is. So, for now, we’ll see what we can find out about this Kakistos, if he is here, the information will be useful to us as well. Also Faith might come by this afternoon.” Giles told them. “If she does, could you bring her downstairs? Thanks.”

Giles went down to the training room to find Buffy changed and going through her warm-up routine.

“Do you think she’ll come by?” She asked.

“I hope so.” He said as he picked up a pair of hand pads.

Giles started to move around on the mat, moving the pads around for her to hit. Moving forward and backwards forcing her to adjust. A light sheen of sweat developed as she jabbed, and kicked at the moving pads following Giles erratic movements around the room. The harshness of their breath and the thump of the pads being hit were the only sounds. In mid kick, Buffy stopped. She swiveled her head, a confused look on her face.

“What?” Giles asked.

“She’s here or at least close.” Buffy replied. “It’s that same tingly feeling I had last night.”

“Can you tell where she is or what she’s doing?”

“No, but the closer she is, the stronger it gets.”

“So you might be able to tell how far away she is when you’re used to it?”

“Maybe, it has picked up in the last little bit.”

“Good, we’ll get back to training and see if she shows.” With that, Giles looked at his watch, then started to move the pads and shuffle around the room again. Every so often Giles would look towards the stairs to see if anyone appeared.

Willow looked up from her book when she heard a knock at the door. “Think that’s her?”

“Don’t know,” Xander replied. “Guess we should go see.”

“I-I’ll wait here” Tara said as she watched the two of them head for the door.

“Hi Faith, Come on in.” Xander said as he opened the door. “Welcome to Casa del Giles!”

Willow just stared at him as Faith walked in. She was wearing her duster and carrying a well worn duffel bag. She dropped it in the hall and looked into the dining room, then into the living room. “Red, Xan, Blondie.” She said nodding her head at each in turn. “Where’s G-man and B?”

Willow huffed, “The name is Willow, and they’re down in the training room.”

“Thanks Red, how do I find it?”

Xander pointed to a door down the hallway, “The stairs are through that door.”

“K” She picked up her bag and headed towards the door. “I use nicknames Red. Untwist yer knickers.” She said as the door closed behind her.

“How did she know I was going to say anything?” Willow muttered.

“She’s p-probably heard it m-more than once. If I ask nicely, c-can I untwist your knickers for you?” Tara said as she blushed.

“Whoa! Where did that come from?” Xander laughed as he looked at Willow’s jaw hanging down. Tara just blushed harder. Willow just huffed again and stomped back into the living room.

Buffy stopped again, when she heard the door open. She turned to the stairs and looked up to see who it was. As Faith descended the stairs, Giles checked his watch. “Eight minutes.” he said.

“What?” Buffy asked.

“It’s been eight minutes since you told me you could feel her. Faith, Buffy says she can feel when you’re near. Do you have the same sensation?”

“Yeah, it’s a tingly feeling, at the back of my neck. Different from what I get when I sense a vamp.” Buffy just nodded her head.

“How far from the house were you when you first could sense her?”

“Dunno, ‘bout a block anna half.” Buffy’s and Giles’ eyebrows shot up.

“That’s incredible. I’ll definitely have to research this later.”

“Yeah, is there some place I can change?” Faith asked.

“Bathroom is there.” Buffy pointed at a door. “I’ll just get some water, while you change.”

“Whatever.” Faith said as she crossed the floor.

A few minutes later, Faith walked back into the training room wearing a loose pair of sweats, and a tight tank top. She slowly started to move her body through different Tai Chi moves. Buffy watched as she flexed and stretched. ‘ _She just flows from one move to the other. I could watch her all day. Where the hell did that come from?’_ she thought as she furrowed her brows.

“Everythin’ OK B?” Faith asked. “You seem to be bothered by somethin’.”

“No, no, I’m, ahh, just peachy. Yeah, peachy girl that’s me!” Buffy turned away from Faith. ‘ _God, I’m channeling Willow again!’_ she thought.

Upstairs, Willow flipped a page and sighed, Xander just stared at his book, while Tara looked at both of them. “N-not much research g-getting done is there?” she asked. “I t-think maybe we should g-go and check on Buffy and G-giles. If s-she is a demon or s-something, they might n-need our help.”

Xander and Willow grinned at Tara. “You’re right!” they yelled then leapt from their chairs and ran to the basement door. “Wait for me!” Tara said as she rushed after them.

Faith had started over to her duffel bag as the three came down the stairs. With a smirk she said, “Come to see the show?”

“N-no,” Willow stammered, “Just taking a break and wanted to see how everyone was getting along. Friends and stuff you know?”

“Of course I do.” came the flat reply. Giles started to clean his glasses while Buffy rolled her eyes.

Faith opened her duffel bag and pulled out two wooden objects, followed by her two katanas, then a small rug she placed in the corner. With her back to the corner, she sat cross legged with the Katana in front of her. She put her hands together in front of her, then bowed slightly. She lifted one katana up while her lips moved in supplication. Then she did the same with the second one.

“What’s she doing?” Xander whispered while they watched her.

“It looks like she’s centering herself.” Willow whispered back. Buffy looked at them and shrugged. Faith placed the second katana back in front of her, bowed again, and reached into her duffel and pulled out a roll of tape.

“Yes.” is all she said in answer to Willow. When she finished taping her hands, she put the katanas back in her duffel. As she picked up the two objects, Xander asked, “What are those?”

“Bokken,” she replied, “they’re practice swords, or can be used as real weapons.” Turning to face him, she tossed one to him so they could look at it.

As the Scoobies looked at the bokken, Faith turned to Buffy and bowed slightly. When she straightened up, she settled into her stance and looked directly into Buffy’s eyes, “You ready B?”

Buffy squared herself to Faith, “Bring it.”

The two circled each other, slowly trying to spot an advantage while not giving one away. Buffy threw a jab that Faith easily blocked, then countered with a fast right that was also blocked. The Scoobies and Giles just watched, mesmerized. The four of them had never felt so much power in one room before. You could see the tension coming off the two slayers in waves. Violence, Sex, Passion, all rolled into one. Xander crossed his legs to hide his discomfort, while Willow licked her lips. Tara and Giles just stared. The two combatants started to pick up the pace, jabs, kicks, moving quicker, getting the measure of their opponent. Buffy connected with a punch to Faith’s shoulder, “You hit like a girl.” the dark slayer said.

“Don’t want to hurt you.” Buffy responded.

“Like you could.” Faith said as her hand shot out and slapped Buffy in the side of the head. Buffy’s eyes narrowed, as the Scoobies collectively inhaled.

The fight was on. There was nothing but a blur of hands and feet, with sweat flying, the rasping of breath, and the slap of leather hitting skin. The two seemed to dance around the room in a flow of arms and legs. Always shifting never missing a beat of whatever music was driving them. It was violent ballet. The two were almost perfectly matched.

Giles’ watch beeped, distracting Faith for a split second. Buffy dropped and swept her feet out from under her and leapt on top to pin her. Looking into Faith’s eyes, “You’re mine.” She panted. Faith smirked then arched her back lifting Buffy off the floor with her. She pushed herself until she was up on her palms and her feet. Buffy instinctively wrapped her arms and legs around Faith and hung on. Still smirking and staring into Buffy’s eyes, Faith dropped her waist and then with a huge thrust, pushed herself up into a handstand. Buffy’s eyes opened wide and she tightened her grip as Faith held them upright, then started to come down with Buffy underneath her. Arching her back and extending her legs to stop them before they hit the floor, “No, you belong to me.” Faith said as she slowly let them come to rest on the floor. They laid there, Buffy’s arms and legs wrapped around Faith, both panting as green eyes stared into dark chocolate. They could both feel the physical heat coming off themselves, but there was something else as well. Not defined, but they could feel it. Giles cleared his throat, and look away from the two. “That was definitely something to see.”

“Yes it was.” Willow whispered, Xander just bit his knuckle and moaned, “Wow.” was all that Tara could say. Buffy could feel a tingle through her core as Faith sat up, straddling her. “How you feelin’ B?” she asked looking down.

“Hot and sweaty.” Buffy replied.

“Just the way I like ‘em.” Faith smirked as she stood up and extended a hand to Buffy. Helping the blushing blonde off the floor, “I’ve never fought anybody that could keep up before.” Faith said. Still holding Buffy’s hand, “I’d like to do it again, if that’s okay?” Realizing she was still holding on, Faith quickly let go of Buffy.

“Uh, yeah, umm, good, that would be good.” Buffy said as she walked over to the cooler. “Water?” she asked handing a bottle to Faith.

“Thanks.” She said, tipping the bottle up and letting the cool water pour down her throat. After draining about two thirds of it, she closed her eyes, lifted it up and poured the rest over herself. Buffy’s eyes widened as the water ran over Faiths face and onto her shirt. The cool water temporarily hardened her nipples. Buffy just stared. ‘ _She’s so HOT_ ,’ leapt to the front of her brain. ‘ _Huh, why would I think that?’_

Her thoughts were interrupted by Faith, “Earth to B. Where are you?”

“Oh, ahh, just umm, thinking, about nothing.” She said looking away. Faith smirked at Buffy’s answer. She could tell that she had the power to put Buffy off. She wasn’t sure how serious the flirting was, but she enjoyed it. It wasn’t the same as she usually did though. Not flirting to get someone into bed, but just to get Buffy to pay attention and break her out of her shell.

“We done?” Faith asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy answered. “Did you want to go patrol later? With me?”

“Sure, I can do that.” Faith picked up her duffel bag and walked towards the bathroom. “I’m gonna shower and then I’ll meet you later.”

Buffy came upstairs after her shower and saw Willow, Tara, Giles and Xander reading in the living room. “Did Faith leave?”

“Yes, she said she would be back at 7:30 to go on patrol.” Giles answered. “What did you think of your sparring session?” He reached for his journal and pen. Opening it, he waited for a response.

“It was weird. I didn’t hold anything back. I’ve never been able to do that with anyone. It was amazing. I felt like we knew what the other was going to do before they did it. If she’s not a slayer, I sure hope she’s not evil.”

“Yes, well we’re still waiting on that.” Giles said as he jotted down a few more notes. “Is there anything you want to add?”

“When I was in the shower, I could feel the tingle lessen. That’s why I asked if she’d left.”

“How did that connection affect you when you were sparring?”

“I think that’s how we knew what the other was going to do. It’s like we were sharing information. Not really reading each other’s minds, but kinda like being able to feel each others intentions. It’s hard to describe.”

“That’s good, because you did some things today I’ve never seen you do before. I don’t know if you remember, but you did a double kick to her head using just one foot. First you kicked the left side, with the top of your foot, then the right side with your heel. It really was quite impressive.”

Did I connect with either one?”

“No, she blocked them both. But did you know where that came from?”

“No, I don’t remember it being a conscious decision. It just seemed to pop into my head to do it. Almost like it was something she would do.”

“This really is quite fascinating. I wonder if you’d be able to communicate telepathically? It almost seems as if you may be able to read each other’s minds.”

“Eww, Giles! I don’t want anybody reading my mind and I definitely don’t want to read hers!” Scrunching up her face, she stared at Giles. ‘ _I wonder if that’s where those comments she’s made have come from. If she can sense how she makes me feel? OH MY GOD! I am so not GAY!’_ the look on her face slowly changed from one of concentration to one of shock.

“Buffy?” Giles asked, “Are you okay?”

“Umm, yeah, umm, just uhh, thinking, of ahh, Homework! Yeah, I gotta go do some homework before patrol! Bye” She jumped up, grabbed her book bag and ran to the door. Giles stared after her. ‘ _I’ll never understand teenagers.’_

Faith stood on the porch and knocked. Giles opened the door, “Hello Faith, how are you? Please come in.”

“Fine thanks. B will be here shortly.” She said walking in and dropping her duffel bag on the floor. “Hey.” She said to the Scoobies sitting in the living room.

Giles stared at her. “How did you know she wasn’t here yet?”

“I can feel her, and it’s not as strong as when she was here earlier. She’ll be here in a coupla’ minutes though.” Faith answered as she looked at the books the Scoobies had in front of them.

“They’re manuscripts and texts we use for research.” Willow said. “We’re trying to find info on Kakistos for you.”

“Why?”

“Because if he is here, we will have to deal with him and it’s best to know as much as possible before you confront your enemy.” Giles answered, walking back into the living room.

“I just go in and kill’em” Faith stated.

“That is dangerous and not always successful. It adds to your longevity in this business to have a plan and use all weapons at your disposal.” Giles retorted.

“Don’t always have time for that shit.”

“No, but if you have time to prepare it’s best to make the most of it.”

“Whatever. What have you found?”

Willow piped up, “So far, he’s from central Europe, he’s about 450 years old and he came to America about 110 years ago. He moves around, which you already know. He’s a cross between a demon and a vampire. That’s why he has the horns and the cloven feet. If he is here that would explain the increase in vampire activity over the last few weeks. We know of a couple of places where we can check to see if anyone’s heard of him being here.”

“We can ask Spike to check at Willy’s.” Giles said.

“What’s Willy’s? Oh, Buffy’s here” Faith said.

“Buffy’s...” Giles queried as he heard the door open. “Ah, Slayer senses. Willy’s is a Demon bar here in town. Occasionally we ask Spike to get information out of him.”

“Hi guys, I’m here.” Buffy chirped.

“Tell me where it is and I’ll go after patrol and ask around.” Faith said as she stood. “You ready to go?”

“Umm, yeah, I guess so. We’ll do a sweep through Restfield then Shady Acres. So we’ll be back in about 90 minutes.”

“Alright, we’ll see you when you return.” Giles waved them off.


	5. Chapter 5

Buffy and Faith headed out towards Restfield Cemetery. They quietly walked side by side through the streets of Sunnydale.

_‘She walks like some kind of big cat.’_ Buffy thought as she stole a glance at Faith striding down the street beside her. ‘ _She looks like she's about to pounce on something.’_

"So," Buffy said to break the silence, "Where are you from?"

"Out East" was the reply.

"East what? East Timor, East Indies, East Hackensack?" Buffy snapped as she stared at Faith. "What kind of an answer is that?"

"Okay, I'm from Boston."

"Yeah? I'm from L.A. When my mom and dad split, my mom bought the gallery and we moved here. There's my mom and my sister Dawn and myself."

"Mm-hmm." was the reply. Silence fell over the two as they continued down the street.

Buffy waited for a reply. As the seconds ticked past, she looked to Faith to encourage more of a response. All she saw was the side of Faith's face as she continued down the sidewalk.

"You know that this is where you're supposed to tell me about your family back in Boston and a little more about yourself." Using air quotes, Buffy continued. "It's sometimes called Holding up your end of a conversation."

"Yup."

Buffy let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not going to make this easy are you?"

"Nope."

"Do you have a family?"

"No." was the flat response. Buffy stopped dead. "What do you mean, No?" she said to Faith's back as she walked away. Faith turned to Buffy and looked at her with a hard, cold, glare.

"What I said, no." Faith looked away from Buffy. "You've either got one or you don't. I don't." She turned her head back to Buffy. "Can we get goin' now? I gotta go find Willy's after patrol." Faith turned and headed into the cemetery, leaving Buffy in the street.

"You can't just drop something like that and then walk away!" Buffy yelled as she jogged to catch up to Faith. "How am I supposed to deal with that?"

"Dunno, just deal. That's all I do" Faith was looking around the cemetery. "Where do you wanna start?"

"Well, we can start with what happened to your parents and then...."

"No!" Faith stepped into Buffy's face. "Where do you wanna start looking for vamps? I'm done talkin' and I need to get moving."

"I usually start here and circle through. Follow me." Buffy said icily. A stony silence followed them as they slowly walked through the rows of graves looking for new ones.

Faith silently cursed to herself as she walked. ‘ _I'm supposed to be makin' a friend and all I'm doin' is pissin' her off. Why do I do that? Fuck...’_ "Look," she said to Buffy, "I ain't big on small talk, so don't expect to be 'Best Buds' right off the hop. I've spent a lot of time lookin' out for myself and I don't expect that to change. If I've got somethin' to tell you, I will."

"Fine, I'll just wait until you're ready to impart your wisdom to us peons." Buffy said as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared at Faith. "Any pearls coming soon? Or should I just shut up and wait?"

"You just don't fuckin' get it, do you?" Faith shot back. "I've gotten this far not bein' able to depend on anyone but me. I ain't gonna change overnight, and I still have to learn to trust you."

"What do we have here?" a badly dressed vamp asked as he came up to the two slayers. "Looks like I found a couple of late night snacks!"

Faith and Buffy both stared at him, surprised that he had gotten so close to them. "Hey," Faith said as she turned to him. "Why don't you go and find three friends and then come back and we'll all party."

"What!" Buffy yelled, as the vamp stared at the two of them.

"Think about it." Faith explained. There's only one of him. If he gets three friends, then it'll make things a lot more fun. I'm not really in the mood for sharing just one ya know. I've got lots of frustrations to work out at the moment. If you don't think you can handle it, I'll look after three of them. Okay?"

Faith turned back to the vamp and started to walk towards him. "You do have three friends that would want to party with us don't you?" Her voice had dropped into a low seductive tone. "We could show you a really good time. We'll wait right here till you get back." She was dragging her finger across his shoulders as she slowly strolled behind him.

Buffy just stared at her. ‘ _Why doesn't she talk to me like that? She's so hot talking to him that way, I want her. Oh God, I've got to get a hold of myself, am I crushing on her?’_

Faith had stopped in front of the vamp and was running her hand across his chest as she leant into him. Whispering in his ear, she said "Run along and find your friends. We'll be right here waiting, and then we'll give you a night like you've never experienced before. Hurry back, 'cause we won't wait long." As her tongue slid out and caressed his ear the vampire moaned and stared at Faith, then looked to Buffy. "I'll be right back." he croaked, then ran.

As he disappeared into the darkness, Buffy grabbed Faith and pulled her around to face her. "What the hell are you doing!"

"Relax B, did you see the look on his face? He almost came in his pants right there!" Faith laughed. She shook off Buffy's grip on her arm and started to stretch. "Come on, let's get ready to kick some vamp ass."

"Tell me what the hell is going on, are you crazy? You just sent him off to go bring some other vamps back here so we can 'party' with them! Are you trying to get us killed?"

Faith furrowed her eyebrows at Buffy as she ranted. "No, one vamp between the two of us isn't worth workin' up a sweat. With four of 'em it'll be more of a challenge, but nothing we can't handle. What are you gettin' so worked up about?"

"They're coming back to feed off us!"

"Nah, they're comin' back to fuck us, then feed. Did you not see that guy? He couldn't wait to get out of here to find his buds. He's like any other guy, get him thinkin' with his dick and he'll do anything for ya. When he gets back with his buddies, act all hot like, and then we'll dust 'em."

"Are you insane?"

"Nope just havin' some fun. They have no idea what's waitin' for 'em, so it should be a good surprise. I can't wait to see the look on their faces."

"I can't believe this! You're acting like this is appropriate behaviour! You may have a death wish but I don't! I should just leave you here alone!"

"Suit yourself B. Won't be the first time I've taken on four vamps by myself. This is what I do. I was born to kill vamps and why dust one when ya can dust four?"

"Fine!" Buffy turned and stomped away. Faith shrugged her shoulders at Buffy's retreating back and watched her go.

_‘The way she threw herself at that vamp! What a slut! I hope she gets her ass handed to her on a plate!’_ Buffy was fuming as she continued away from Faith. ‘ _She did look incredible when she turned the charm on. That vamp was so hard he could hardly walk. I wonder what I have to do to get her to talk to me like that. Course, if she gets hurt, she probably won't ever talk to me again.’_

Buffy started to slow as she approached the edge of the cemetery. ‘ _Damn. Damn, damn, damn! I can't leave her there, well I could, but it wouldn't be right. I know she can handle herself. Maybe I'll just watch in case she needs help or something.’_ Buffy turned and started to head back towards Faith. ‘ _It would be kinda fun to see the look on their faces though. And right now I really could use a little slaying to get rid of some frustration.’_ she sighed as she spotted Faith getting ready to fight. Faith smirked when she saw Buffy returning. "Didja lose somethin'?" she chuckled.

"Yes, my sanity." was Buffy's reply. She shook her head and looked down as she continued. "I can't really leave you out here all alone. I don't know why, but it would bother me. Besides, it might also be fun."

Buffy raised her eyes to see Faith smiling at her. "Thanks, I figger it'll be more fun with both of us."

_‘Wow,’_ Buffy thought, ‘ _I could get lost in those eyes. They just look so inviting, I could just melt_.’

"Hey, B? You okay? You seem to be spacin'." Faith smiled.

"Huh? Yeah! Yeah, just ahh, focusing, that's all, focusing."

Faith smirked at Buffy blushing. "You say so." Buffy watched as Faith sat on a headstone. "Might as well get comfy while we wait." Buffy leaned against the next one and watched Faith out of the corner of her eye. ‘ _God I wish I had her confidence. She just radiates power and sex. She just glides along, nothing seems to rattle her, the whole world could go for shit and it wouldn't faze her.’_

"B?" Faith was standing in front of her, "Yer zonin' again. Get ready they're comin' and there's four of 'em." Buffy straightened out and focused her slayer senses to find the vamps.

"Okay," she said "How do you want to handle this?"

"Just stand there and look hot, then wait for my signal."

"How do I do that? I'm not like you Faith." Faith tilted her head at Buffy and stared before blinking rapidly.

"Trust me B, just stand there, and bat your eyes at ‘em a couple a times and they'll melt." Buffy blushed and looked away from Faith. ‘ _HOLY CRAP!!! She thinks I'm HOT!!!’_

"B? Don’t zone on me again. How many stakes you got?"

"I only carry one, Mr. Pointy." Buffy replied.

"Mr. Pointy?" Faith started to laugh. "That's just great!" Faith reached into her duster and pulled out a stake. "Here." She handed it to Buffy. "In case you need a backup."

"Thanks." Buffy said as she took the stake and tucked it in the back of her jacket.

As the vamps approached, Faith reached out and touched Buffy's elbow. She felt a jolt run right up her spine. ‘ _Wow, I wonder if she feels like that when I touch her?’_

 "You sure yer ok with this B?" Faith whispered.

"Yup, just give me the signal."

"Alright, you wanna take the two on the left?"

"Okay." Buffy looked to Faith and smiled. ‘ _There’s just something about her that has a weird effect on me.’_ She thought to herself.

The vampire that had found the girls turned to the other three, "See, I told you they would be here and they're both good lookin'!"

"Yeah," one of the others replied, "They do look rather tasty." The other three all nodded in agreement. Faith moved towards the two vamps on the right. "I'll be lookin' after you two tonight. Your two friends," she pointed to the other two vamps, "can go with her."

Buffy looked at them a smile growing on her face. "Yes, I'll be more than happy to look after ALL your needs."

All four vamps broke out in smiles at Buffy's words. It was going to be a grand night.

Faith slightly turned to the right with a scowl on her face. "What the hell is that?" she said, pointing off into the bushes. The two vamps tried to see what she was pointing at. Faith's boot caught the first one in the side of the head and spun him into the second one knocking both to the ground. Buffy hit one with a right cross that caused him to stumble and fall, then she grabbed the other one and kneed him in the balls. He folded in two and Buffy drove Mr. Pointy through his back causing him to explode into dust. She caught a glimpse of Faith who was trashing the two vampires she was dealing with. Knowing Faith was okay, she faced the first vamp she had hit who was getting to his feet. "Your turn."

"Slayer!" he hissed as his face changed into vampire mode. "Tonight you die!"

"Ooh. Like I haven't heard that one before." The vamp growled and lunged at her, Buffy sidestepped and got him with a fist on the way by. "You're going to have to do better than that." she teased him. He came back at her throwing punches and kicks. Buffy moved left and right blocking the ones she couldn't avoid. "My sister hits harder than you do and she's only 12."

"Fuck you!" he yelled as he threw himself at her. Buffy grabbed him as he made contact and let herself fall to the ground. Using his momentum, she flipped him over onto his back and straddled him. She pulled a stake out from the back of her jacket and rammed it into the vamps chest. She coughed a couple of times as the dust cleared. She looked around for Faith, but didn't see or hear anything. "Faith?"

Faith's head popped up from behind a headstone two rows over. "Yeah?"

Buffy sighed in relief, "You ok?"

"Five by five, B. You?"

"What?"

"I'm okay B." She shook her head and dipped down behind the headstone again. Buffy furrowed her brow, ‘ _What is she doing?’_ and walked towards Faith.

"Whatcha doing?" she asked as Faith was hurriedly stuffing something into her duffel bag.

"Jesus! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Faith shouted. Standing up, she looked away from Buffy, "Uhh, nothin', just ahhh, tidyin' up, that's all."

Buffy looked around where Faith had been kneeling, "You always clean up after you dust somebody?"

"Ha, Ha. Shall we continue with the patrol or head back. I still have to find Willy's tonight."

Buffy tilted her head and smirked, "Yeah right. Are you old enough to get into a bar?"

"Don't worry about me, I can get anywhere I wanna go." Faith picked up her duffel and turned to leave. Buffy sighed and shook her head as she watched her leave. ‘ _One second we're getting along like best friends, the next it's like she's never heard of me. I don't understand.’_

"Wait Faith, I'm coming." She jogged to catch up to her as she was making her way to the entrance. "You were right Faith, I did get rid of some frustrations tonight."

"Good." The two of them walked through the quiet streets of Sunnydale, back to Giles' house. Buffy would occasionally glance at Faith and wonder what the other girl was thinking. She felt comfortable beside her, but was curious as to what was behind the mask and how she could reach it. ‘ _That's me, always worrying about someone else. There's just so much about her I want to know. I've never been this curious about anyone before. I know all about Willow and Xander, but that took years, and it wasn't what drove our friendship. It just happened. With Faith, I want to know everything right now. But she's not like that. It'll be interesting to see if I can get her to open up.’_ With a half smile on her face and Faith beside her, Buffy realized she hadn't felt this good with someone in a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

Buffy reached out to knock on Giles' front door. She paused for a second, lowered her arm and turned to Faith. "I really want to say thanks again. I did have a good time patrolling with you and would like to do it again. At some point Giles will ask me and I'd like to tell him you're okay with it?"

"No problem B." Faith said as she reached past Buffy to knock on the door. Buffy could feel the sparks run up her spine as Faith's arm came into contact with her own. ‘ _If she ever figures out what she does to me, I'm going to be so embarrassed.’_

"You ok?" Faith asked, looking at Buffy. Buffy blushed slightly.

Giles opened the door on the two slayers, "Who's not okay?" he asked looking back and forth between them. "Are you hurt?"

"Nah," Faith replied, "B's just spacin' again."

"Faith!" Buffy sniped as she smacked Faith in the shoulder, "I am not 'spacing', I was just thinking of something else."

"Sure." was the sarcastic reply as Faith brushed past her and into the living room. Giles was worriedly looking at Buffy. She sighed and shook her head, "I'm fine, really, I'm okay." She stepped past Giles and into the living room.

When she entered, Spike was sitting on the couch and Faith was leaning against the opposite wall. Both were trying to stare the other down. "Yes, well, here we are." Giles said to try and dispel the tension. "How did everything go tonight?"

"We got four vamps," Faith replied, "and it looks like a possibility to make it five." Spike started to growl and lift himself off the couch. Buffy plopped herself down next to Spike and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"No fighting in the house. Remember? That's both of you." Spike slowly sat back onto the couch, not taking his eyes off of Faith. She smirked at him and replied, "More than willin' to take it outside."

"That's enough!” Giles snapped. "You're behaving like children! Spike you were leaving for Willy's?"

"Be glad to." Glaring at Faith, he got off the couch and turned to go. "I'll ring you tomorrow and let you know what I find."

"I'm going with Bleach-boy." Faith said as she started to follow Spike.

"Sod off, I'm flyin' solo. I don't need to worry about bein' your nanny."

Faith smiled at him, "I'm sure I can handle anything we find."

Giles sighed. "Faith, it's a bar, you're not of legal age, and it's a Demon bar! Spike will go and report back to us later."

"You don't think I can get into a bar? No, this is my problem and I'm goin'.” She pushed Spike towards the door. "Come on, we ain't got all night." Spike pulled the door open and stomped out into the night, muttering to himself. Faith sauntered after him with a large smirk on her face.

Giles shook his head as the door closed. "Do you think either one of them will make it back?" he asked Buffy as he returned to the living room.

"Actually, I hope they both make it back. I think my life would be very different without both of them in it."

Giles picked up his pen and journal, as he made himself comfortable in his chair. "Tell me what happened tonight will you?"

Buffy curled up in the corner of the couch and relayed the events of the night to Giles. "That's interesting," he said after Buffy told him about Faith being surprised. "I wonder what she was trying to hide."

"I don't know, but she became a lot cooler until we reached your place, then she seemed to warm up some. I think she will patrol with me again. I hope she'll train as well."

“That would be very beneficial for both of you. What of your ummm, Slayer connection? How did it affect you when you were fighting?"

Buffy fidgeted for a few seconds before replying. "I knew where she was, and I could feel something while she was fighting. The best way to describe it would be 'joy'. She just seemed to be so happy while she was fighting. I actually had more fun because of what I could feel coming from her."

"I see," Giles said as took notes. "It seems that you have an emotional connection, as well as a physical one. That is very interesting."

Buffy blanched as she realized what Giles had said. ‘ _An emotional connection? God, if she can feel my emotions, she's going to kill me. Or what if she shares them?’_ A warm feeling started to creep through Buffy as she thought of Faith sharing her feelings. She shook her head again, and looked at Giles. “I’m kinda tired and I promised Willow I’d call her, so I’m gonna head home. Is there anything else?”

“No, I think we’ve covered everything. Thanks Buffy, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Giles was still making notes in his journal as Buffy let herself out.

 

“So, Bleach-boy, where we headed?” Faith asked as she walked beside Spike.

“Willy’s Bar.”

“And that’d be where?”

“Bad part o’ town, down by the docks.” Spike hadn’t looked at Faith since they’d left Giles’. “Could be a rough night for a bint like you. If you wanna sod off, you can.” Smirking at her, he said “I won’t tell anyone if you do.”

Faith laughed at him. “Why don’t I believe you? I need to see and hear whatever we find for myself. It ain’t that I don’t trust you, but I don’t. At least not yet.” Spike shrugged his shoulders.

“Suit yerself.” The two of them walked in silence through the deserted streets of Sunnydale. Faith could smell the change in the air and hear the sounds of the waterfront increase. “We gettin’ close?” she asked Spike quietly. 

“Next alley past that warehouse.” He pointed up the street.

“Okay.” Faith replied. “You wanna ask the questions and I’ll be the muscle?”

Spike stopped and stared at Faith. “Why?”

“Cause you know who to talk to and I won’t have to kick the ass of everyone in there to find out.”

“Makes sense for me to be in charge.”

Faith laughed again. “Not in charge, just ask the questions. You’ll live longer.”

Spike chuckled as he started to walk again. “Don’t think spendin’ any time with you will add to my longevity.”

“Hey,” Faith said in a serious tone, “thanks for your help, and I do got your back in there.”

“That makes me feel so much safer.” Spike muttered as they turned into the alley. Faith followed Spike as he walked up to the bar. She slowly looked around. Her slayer senses were screaming. She saw several species of demons and a number of vampires. Some looked at her then turned away, others seemed to be paying closer attention. She ignored them all and turned to look at Spike.

“Willy, come down here and talk to yer old mate Spike” A short balding man with long greasy hair, looked up from the far end of the bar. He sneered at Spike and finished wiping down the end of the bar. He pulled a couple of beers out of the cooler and served another customer, then he slowly walked to where Faith and Spike were standing.

“What brings you here Spike? Didn’t think I’d ever get to see you again.”

“I need some info on where to find Kakistos. So, naturally I thought I’d start with you.”

“Ahh,” Willy nodded his head. “I see. Problem is Spike, since you had that chip put in your head, you don’t scare me anymore.”

“Hmm, you’d be right Willy, that is a problem for me...” Faith’s arm shot out from behind Spike and she grabbed the top of Willy’s head and bounced it off the bar. Willy’s head snapped back with the force and he collapsed on the floor. Spike leaned over the bar and looked down. “But it don’t seem to be a problem for 'er.” Faith leapt over the bar and picked Willy up with one hand. Holding him by his throat with his feet just off the floor, she arched an eyebrow at Willy, then turned to Spike. “You were sayin’?”

“Right, we’re lookin for info on Kakistos. Anything you’d care to tell us?” Willy gurgled and clutched at Faith’s hand on his throat. “Maybe you should put him down so he can answer us?” Faith shook Willy a couple of times and his eyes widened in fear. She suddenly opened her hand and he dropped gasping to the floor again. Faith stood him up, crossed her arms and levelled a cold hard stare at him.

“I don’t know nothin’.” Willy sputtered and looked to two vamps sitting in a horseshoe shaped booth at the back. Faith growled at him, lowered her arms and leaned into Willy.

“Now Willy,” Spike said, “I’m sure you don’t want to deal with my friend 'ere.”

“Honest!” Willy yelped, “I don’t know nothin’!” Again, he looked at the booth in the back. Spike looked at Faith, who gave her head a single nod and stepped back a bit from Willy. “If you’re sure Willy, we’ll leave. But if I find out different, me and the bint will be back.” Faith leapt over the bar and stood next to Spike. “We’ll go out the back.” he indicated with his head. They walked towards the back entrance, ignoring the two vampires in the booth until they were next to them. Spike and Faith slid into the booth, blocking the two vamps in.

“What the fuck do you want?” one of them asked.

“Just some answers to some simple questions.” Spike answered.

“She’s human!” the one blocked in by Faith said. She pulled out a stake and drove it into his chest. Faith then slid around to the second Vampire and smiled at him. “We’re lookin’ for Kakistos, and we heard you could help us.” The vamp looked down at the stake on the table, then at Spike and then to Faith. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said, shrugging his shoulders. “Too bad.” Faith replied. She picked up the stake and looked him in the eyes. “You’re a vampire. You’re already dead, but you can still feel pain. And pain will make you talk.”

He laughed at Faith. “You think you can cause me enough pain to talk? What, the two of you are going to hit me with your purses?” Spike growled and Faith held up her hand to quiet him. “No, see in my travels I’ve learned some things about vamps and pain.” She drove the stake into the vamps chest, just far enough to barely touch his heart with the point. As he reached to pull it out, Faith and Spike restrained his arms. With her free hand, Faith rested her palm on the blunt end of the stake. He groaned as the point moved against his heart. “Now, there’s two ways to do this. You’ve already chosen the hard way, so is it goin to be quick, or long and slow? Your choice.”

“Fuck you.” was the response. Faith moved the stake a little more and the vampire groaned.

“I’ve never seen a vampire sweat before.” Spike said.

“Wait,” Faith answered, “by the time I’m done he’ll have peed himself and he’ll be crying like a five year old girl.”

“Remind me not to piss you off. Back to the matter at hand mate. The little lady asked you a question.” The vampire groaned, “Fuck off.”

Faith shrugged her shoulders and slowly rotated the stake in his chest. He screamed. The rest of the patrons in the bar came to the sudden realization that discretion was the better part of valour and bolted for the exits. “Looks like none of your mates want to help.” Spike mentioned to the vamp. “Shall we try again?” The vamp just gasped. “I’ll take that as a yes. Now, where is this Kakistos bloke?”

“Blow me.” Faith jiggled the stake this time and the vamp almost passed out from the pain. He was leaning against the back of the booth gasping, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. “You won’t fuck up and kill him will you?” Spike asked.

“Nah,” Faith shook her head. “This ain’t the first time I’ve done this. It did take awhile ta perfect it though.” Spike waited till the vamp had regained his senses, “I don’t know about you, but this doesn’t bother me as much as it’s bothering you mate. Just help us out a little and no one will ever know you did.” The vamp looked at Spike and growled. Faith reached for the stake, “NO!” he croaked, “You can find him on the east side of town, old warehouse, Scrooge Trucking.”

That’s my boy,” Spike patted him on the chest and the vamp whimpered. “Sorry old chap. How many vampires and demons are with him?”

The vamp gasped a little bit, “There’s only four now, plus Kakistos. He doesn’t like big groups. Harder to control.”

“That’s bloody swell, how do we get in?

The vamp gasped, “Loading dock, next to the railroad tracks.”

“That’s all I need. You?”

Faith shrugged her shoulders, “Nah I think that about covers it. Nighty-night.” She pushed the stake through his heart and he exploded into dust.

“I wish you would warn me before you do that.” Spike coughed.

“What? It ain’t like you breathe.”

“No, but I did have my mouth open.”

“I’ll try and remember that.” Faith laughed, “You’re okay for a vamp. I could get to like you.” She slid over and gave Spike a shove. “Let’s get outta here.” Spike grinned at her, “Like me hmm?” he sidled up next to her and dropped his arm around her shoulder. “How much ‘like me’ are we talkin’?”

Faith punched him in the chest knocking him to the floor. “Not even fuckin’ close Bleach-boy.” She spun on her heel and headed out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy sat at a table in the Espresso Pump, waiting for Willow. She idly stirred her mocha, deep in thought, her eyes unfocussed. “Hey” Willow said, startling Buffy, “What’s so interesting?” as she dropped into the chair opposite her.

“Oh! Hey Wills, thanks for comin’ to meet me.”

‘No trouble. So tell me why you were all crypto-girl on the phone, and couldn’t tell me what you wanted to talk about?”

Buffy sighed, and looked around at the other tables. “It’s kinda personal, for both of us, and I didn’t want to get into it over the phone.” She paused and looked around again, “Actually, would it be okay if we went down to the park? There are too many people in here, and I’d feel more comfortable.”

Willow’s brow furrowed as she looked at Buffy. “Sure. Ummm, you’re okay?”

“Yeah, I just need to talk to you about this.” Willow got up and headed to the counter. She looked back at Buffy occasionally while waiting. Buffy had dropped her head again and was staring at the table.

“Kay, I’m ready to go.” Willow said when she returned.

“Huh, right. Sorry I was somewhere else again.” Buffy stood, picked up her mocha and followed Willow out.

As they got outside, Buffy reached up and pulled her sunglasses into place. Sighing, she started to walk towards the small park. Willow kept pace, watching her. “Are you sure everything’s okay?” she asked quietly.

“Mm-hmm.” was the response. They continued in silence and found an empty bench along the walking path. They settled onto it and Willow waited. “I do have a class later this afternoon.” She spoke quietly to Buffy. “Please tell me what’s wrong?”

Buffy sighed and looked around. “I really need to talk to someone about this, but I don’t know where to start.”

“Buff, it’s me, Willow. I’m your best friend in the whole world. You can tell me anything.”

“I know, that’s what makes this so hard.” Buffy sighed again and shook her head. “Head up, take it on the chin like a man.” Willow stared at her. “What?”

“I’m just getting myself psyched up.” Buffy turned to face Willow and removed her sunglasses. She chewed on the arm for a moment, then put them on the bench. “Will, when did you know you were gay?”

“Wh-what?”

“When did you put it all together and figure it out?”

“Oh, OHH!” Willow exclaimed. “I see.” She fidgeted for a moment, “It was after I met Tara. Why?”

“Well...” Buffy squirmed around on the bench and looked off into the distance. “There are a couple of things in the last week or so that kinda make me wonder about myself. I’m not sure about anything anymore, and it’s driving me insane.”

“So what do you want to know?”

Buffy looked down at her hands, then back up to Willow’s eyes, “How’d you figure it out? Like you were with Xander then Oz, and boom, you’re dating Tara. How’d you get from boys to girls?” Buffy was blushing as she finished. Willow was trying to suppress a giggle.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “It was a pretty big surprise to me too. I didn’t really consider it till after I met Tara. Oz was special, and he made me feel like nothing I’d felt before. I did love him, and it was the best I’d ever had or expected to have. Then Tara showed up and wow. Whenever I was near her, it was like the Fourth of July. Boom. It still is. I look at her and she takes my breath away. She’s all I can think of all day long.”

Buffy nodded, “So it kinda snuck up on you?”

“There was nothing subtle about it.” She was smiling at Buffy. “I had to make up my mind how I wanted to deal with it. Sheila and Ira Rosenberg did not raise a lesbian. On the other hand the most wonderful person in the whole world was standing right there in front of me and if I wanted her to be as big a part of my life as she is, I had to do something.”

“You chose Tara.”

“No, I didn’t have a choice. It was the only way I could be. For me to be able to live with myself, I had to go with Tara.”

“So, you just got up one morning and said ‘I’m gay’?”

Willow started to laugh. “Oh goddess no!” wiping her eyes, “It took a lot of thought to get there. I had to be more honest with myself then I’d ever been before. Everything I’d ever done or thought about went under a microscope. It was the hardest time of my life. Looking back, it was worth all the angst and pain. I’m in love with a beautiful woman, and she’s in love with me.” She reached out and lightly touched Buffy’s shoulder, “That’s what made it all worth while.”

“Did you know Tara was gay?”

“Not at first. As I got to know her I had a feeling that the attraction was mutual and there was something to build on. Approaching her and telling her that I wanted to be more than friends was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“What if she’d said no?”

“I would’ve been crushed, but I’d have recovered eventually and found another woman to love.” Buffy slowly nodded her head as she blankly stared into her lap.

“You know, you haven’t told me why all the questions?” Willow quietly asked.

Buffy looked to her long-time friend with a sad glint in her eye, “I think I’m in the same position you were. I’m questioning myself because of the way someone else makes me feel.” She smiled, “I have to do a ‘Willow’ and find myself.” The red-headed witch laughed and reached out enveloping the Slayer in a hug. “You’ll be okay.” She said, “I’m always here if you need me. It doesn’t matter what, when, or who. I’m here.”

“Thanks Will,” Buffy smiled into her shoulder. “You really are the bestest friend a girl could have.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.” She hugged the slayer again. “I have to get back to class. I’ll see you at Giles’ later. Okay?”

“Yup,” Buffy smiled, “I’ll be all slayer girl and I’ll be there.” Willow got up from the bench and smiled at Buffy. “Best slayer there ever was.” She waved at Buffy as she walked away.

Buffy watched her go. ‘ _Now what the hell do I do?’_


	8. Chapter 8

Later that day, the Scoobies were all sitting in Giles’ living room. “What or who are we waiting for?” Xander asked.

Buffy spoke up as she walked into the room. “Spike. He should be here shortly, it’s almost dark out.”

“Okay. Where’s Faith?” he asked.

“We were downstairs sparring; she’ll be up in a minute.” Buffy flopped down on the couch. Willow looked at Buffy and smiled gently at her. "Are you feeling a little better now?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's still a lot to process, and you're right, it's going to take a while."

Xander worriedly looked at Buffy. "What's wrong?" Giles' face had become quite serious. As he was about to speak, Willow interrupted, "Girl problems."

"EEP! Uh, okay, umm, enough info already. Anything new on Kakistos?" Xander and Giles shifted uncomfortably in their seats. "Yes, well, Spike will bring us up to date and then we can formulate a plan." Giles cleaned his glasses rather vigorously. Tara quietly nudged Willow at the research table. "You're b-bad!" she whispered. Willow and Buffy were trying very hard not to laugh.

At the knock on the front door, Xander got up and went to let Spike in. " 'ello kiddies, we're all well are we?"

"Yes, thank you" Giles answered for the group. Faith crept up behind Spike. "BOO" she said into his ear.

"Bloody Hell!" he yelled as he jumped. "Ya coulda given me heart failure!"

"Faith laughed, "Little late for that ain't it?"

That’s not the bleedin' point," Spike muttered at the dark slayer.

"Can we please get on with the matter at hand?" Giles spoke up as the laughter in the room died down. "Please tell us what you found out last night." Spike and Faith relayed the info they had come up with to the rest of the group. Giles pulled up the town plan of Sunnydale to locate the warehouse, while Willow hacked into the town database for a building plan. They discussed a plan of attack for the following day.

"If we kick open the doors to the loading dock about 4:00 in the afternoon," Buffy said, "we should fill about half the warehouse with sunlight." Faith nodded her head. "That'll cut down anythin' caught in the open."

"Tara and I will set up a protection spell in case something is trying to use magic."

"That's good Willow," Giles replied. "Xander and I will protect you and keep an eye out for any demons that try to make a break for it. It will be up to Buffy and Faith to clear the warehouse of course. Spike, will you be able to cover the sewers?"

"Why do I always get the bloody sewers?" he groused.

"If you want to wait in the parking lot with G-man, we can get Xan to look after the sewers." Faith smirked at the vampire.

"No need to get all nasty now. I was just askin'"

"Right," Giles said, "Everyone knows what they’re responsible for tomorrow. We'll meet here at 3:00 and then go from here. Any questions?" He looked around the room and everyone just nodded.

 

Standing on the loading dock, silhouetted by the sun, Faith turned to Buffy, "Ready B?"

"Yup." Buffy waved at Willow and Tara; using magic they destroyed the two doors in front of the slayers.

 "Wow! That's pretty impressive." Faith muttered as she entered the warehouse with Buffy. "Willow's pretty powerful; she just has an occasional problem with control." Buffy said as she looked around. She pointed to a door ahead of them. "We'll have to go through there." As they headed towards it, the floor above them collapsed, dropping four vampires and Kakistos behind them. "Two slayers!" he roared, "I'll be more famous than ever!" Pointing at Faith, he yelled, "Take her and hold her. She can watch me kill the little one before I kill her. She won't get away again!" The four vamps swarmed Faith and forced her away from Buffy. "You think you're better than a Hell God?" Buffy asked as she circled with Kakistos. "Oh wait, she's dead!" She attacked him in the middle of the warehouse, feet and fists flying, making contact, but not doing a lot of damage. "Magic." he smiled, his fist connected with the side of her head knocking her to the ground. Buffy rolled away and got to her feet, she smirked at him. "Girly-man." was all she said, and then she attacked him again.

Faith was facing off against the four vamps. She stopped moving back and gently tossed her hair back. Smiling coquettishly, she licked her lips and motioned them forward with her finger. They cautiously approached feeling safe in numbers. Like a cobra she pulled two stakes out of her duster and lunged forward, dusting two vamps. Surprised, the two left stepped back, and then attacked her. She smiled as her fists and feet contacted her two foes. The blood singing in her veins, she rejoiced in the physicality of her being. ‘ _This is what I was born to do!’_ She kicked one of the vamps in the chest to send him skittering across the floor. The one still standing leapt at her thinking he had an advantage. His face barely had time to realize his error as the stake tore through his heart. Faith was laughing as she faced the last one scrambling to his feet. He turned to run and Faith threw her stake with such force it cleared his heart before he too exploded into dust.

Buffy was still struggling with Kakistos, the combination of his strength and magic was wearing her down.

"I'm comin' B."

Faith charged towards Kakistos back, the anger in her eyes changing them from chocolate to coal black. Just as she reached him, he flung out his hand and yelled, "Refuto!" (repel)

With that one word Faith was flung clear across the warehouse into a brick wall. It collapsed and buried her with the impact. Buffy stared into the cloud of dust, "Faith!" she screamed. Kakistos laughed.

"She is still alive. You will die knowing she wasn't strong enough to help you. She will die slowly knowing that she is still weak and powerless against me." Buffy attacked him again,

"Over my dead body!"

"As you wish slayer!" Kakistos connected with a kick to Buffy's ribcage sending her sprawling to the floor. She tried to get back to her feet but couldn't. Panting she watched him pull out a long, wicked knife. "I'm going to peel the skin off you, one piece at a time. I'll make you last, the pain will be incredible and you'll know how weak you are. You'll beg for me to kill you, and I will. On my terms."

Looking towards the cloud of dust where Faith was lying, "I'm sorry Faith." Buffy whispered.

"Hey, Fuckstick." Faith emerged from the dust. "I'm not done yet." Holding the two katana in the sunlight she twisted them and the reflected light scorched two tracks up Kakistos' back. He arched and roared with the pain.

"Silicis!" (stone) He yelled, as he turned on Faith. His massive fists turned to stone. Swinging his arms over his head he tried to crush her into the floor. Slipping to her right as his left hand hit the concrete, she kicked him in the leg. The satisfying crunch of broken bone made him stagger.

"I."

Sliding in behind him, both swords razored through the skin on his back.

"AM.

Rolling to her right again, she shot her foot out into his upper right leg and it shattered as well. Kakistos stumbled to his knees.

"NOT."

Swinging his right arm to try and knock her down, she leapt over it, cleaving his fist from his arm.

"POWERLESS."

She twisted as she landed bringing her other sword down to cut his left arm at the shoulder.

"ANY."

She stood directly in front of him, staring into his eyes. Kakistos was summoning the magic to try and heal himself. Faith crossed her arms in front of her chest. The two katana, dripping with his blood, pointed up and out. With a sound of ripping silk as they sliced through the air, she turned her wrists, and uncrossed her arms at full force. 

"MORE."

Her chest heaving, she stretched out her right arm and placed the sword point between Kakistos' eyes. A gentle nudge and his head rolled backwards. Faith stepped back as his body started to lean forward and then exploded into an oily green mist. Towards the back of the warehouse a brightly lit portal appeared. It sucked the green mist in and then disappeared.

"You really know how to make an entrance." Buffy groaned.

"I just wanna leave a good impression." Faith sat next to Buffy, and gently put her arm around her. "Are you okay?"

Buffy leaned into Faith and rested her head on her shoulder. "I'm much better now that I know you're okay." Faith went rigid.

"No, don't do that Buffy," she gently pushed her upright. "Don't get close to me. I'm not dependable and it never turns out. So just don't."

"Faith..."

"Are you girls alright?" Giles yelled as he came through the loading dock of the warehouse with the rest of the Scoobies. "Where are you?" he blinked trying to adjust to the dim light.

"There they are!" Xander pointed and ran towards Buffy and Faith. Faith stood and put her arms around Buffy and gently helped her to her feet. Xander and Willow pushed her out of the way as they tried to see what was wrong with Buffy. Faith quietly stepped back, picked up a katana and started to clean it.

"D-don't mind them." Tara said as she stood next to Faith. "A-are you ok-kay?"

"Five by five, Blondie," Faith smirked at the witch. "Thanks for askin'." Tara beamed at the dark slayer. "M-my pleasure."

"Hey," Willow turned her head from Buffy, "quit flirting with my girlfriend!"

"I ain't lookin' for trouble Red, Just talkin' to her." Faith winked at Tara. She blushed, lowered her head and giggled. "Yer just so damned cute Blondie."

"You n-need to f-find a b-boyfriend."

Faith laughed as she cleaned her other sword. "Yer perfect blondie."

"Faith." Giles called to her. "We'll be going back to the house now and going over what happened. I shall expect you to be there."

"Yeah G-man, I'll be there."

"And Faith, one other thing. Thank you for helping Buffy."

Buffy watched Faith's eyes change to a warm dark brown, then back to a cooler shade. "No trouble G-man, I couldn't have done it with out her." Buffy bit her lower lip. ‘ _What did I just see in her? I think she likes me, she just won't let me in.’_


	9. Chapter 9

Faith slowly stood and stretched in Giles' living room. Several empty pizza boxes and soda tins were scattered about. "If that's all," she said, "I'm gonna go." Everyone chirped their good byes as Faith put on her duster and picked up her duffel bag. "Just a sec Faith," Buffy winced as she struggled to get off the couch. "I'll see you out." She followed Faith to the door and opened it. She motioned with her head for Faith to step outside onto the porch. Quietly closing the door behind her, she looked up into Faith's eyes. "I don't want anyone to hear this."

Faith furrowed her brow and looked down at the floor. Buffy reached out and gently put a finger under Faith's chin and lifted it so she could look directly into her eyes. "There are a couple of things I want to say. The first is thank you, for saving my ass. Despite what some people might think, that is exactly what you did. I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you."

Faith blushed and turned her head away. "You fought him, I just helped finish him."

Buffy shook her head as she smiled. "He kicked my ass, you pulled it out, and I thank you for it. The other thing I want to say is," she paused and bit her lip. She looked back into Faith's eyes, "Now that we have dealt with Kakistos, there is a thought that you might leave. I'm going to tell you, that is not what I want. I want you to stay and to let me be your friend. You're the only person in the entire world that feels what I feel. I'd love to share that with you." As she was talking to Faith, Buffy had reached out and gently grasped Faith's hand. ‘ _Wow! This just feels so right!’_ she thought. Faith was looking down and away from Buffy, but she was still holding her hand. "I dunno B, I’ve never had a lot of friends." Faith finally responded. "I don't usually do the relationship thing. Like I said, it don't work very well. I ain't got any plans to go anywhere, so I'll be hangin' around for awhile. Let's just see what happens, okay?"

Buffy broke into a huge grin at Faith's words. "That's all I want Faith, just a chance."

"Alright B, I'll see ya tomorrow." Letting Buffy's hand drop with a gentle squeeze, Faith turned and walked into the darkness. Watching her go, Buffy smiled, ‘ _Look at her work that! She knows I'm watching! I'm in so much trouble.’_

Buffy walked back into the living room, and slowly eased herself onto the couch. "Are you sure you're okay?" Willow asked. "Is there something I can do? I want to help you know?" Buffy smiled and said, Thanks Will, I'll be okay in the morning." She shifted around on the couch to get comfortable and sighed. "Willow, tell me again what that green cloud was that disappeared into that portal thingie."

Willow smiled brightly, "It was just the essence of his magic going back to its own dimension. That's what made him so powerful against us. We were lucky to get the protection spell around Faith just before she hit the wall." She took Tara's hand in hers, "Kakistos wasn't strong enough for the two of us."

Tara blushed at the compliment. "B-buffy and F-faith did all the work. We just helped."

"Thank you for your help though, we really needed it. Speaking of Faith," Buffy looked at everyone in turn, "I talked to her for a moment and I've asked her to stay."

"Hmm," Giles murmured, "Now that Kakistos is dead, there's no real reason for her to stay. She has no connection to the Council, so she could leave if she wanted. But I do think it would be a good idea if she did stay."

Buffy smiled, "Thank you Giles. It is up to her and she didn't say no."

Xander looked between Buffy and Giles, “Why would you want her to stay? We’ve already got the best Slayer there is. We don’t need another one, do we?” Giles removed his glasses and started to polish them.

“We would like her to stay so she can help us with the Hellmouth. It would actually make things easier for the rest of you to have two slayers.”

“I guess so,” he mumbled.

“Don’t worry Xander,” Buffy said to soothe him. “We’re just adding a new face to the gang. She won’t be replacing anyone. Okay?”

Xander smiled at her explanation, “That makes sense now.”

“B-buffy?” Tara asked quietly.

“Yes?”

“W-where does s-she live?” Everyone in the room just stared at Tara. With all eyes pinned on her, a crimson glow rose up her neck and into her cheeks. She quickly turned and put her head into Willow’s shoulder for a moment.

Giles looked around the room, confusion etched on his face. “What do you mean Tara?”

“Well, every t-time we see her, she’s always g-got her duffel bag and she’s really p-protective of it. She also s-seems to wear the same leather p-pants and only a couple of different tank t-tops.” She said quietly, and then looked back down at the table. “I think everything s-she owns is in that b-bag.”

The entire group stared open mouthed at the blonde witch. “I never asked,” Buffy answered, “did you Giles”

“Yes, I did mention it, but like most of her information it wasn’t forthcoming. I don’t think she wants us to know.” Buffy started to stand. “Where are you going?” Giles asked.

“I’m going to find her.”

“If she doesn’t want us to know, it will be very difficult to get that information from her. And with your Slayer connection, she’ll know you’re coming.”

“Damn!” Buffy put her hands on her hips. She was biting her lower lip as she thought.

“Hey,” Xander spoke, “maybe if you disguise yourself?”

“She would still feel the slayer connection, and we don’t know how she would react.” Giles answered.

“Willow,” Buffy turned towards the two witches, “would you two be able to do a glamour spell, and hide the connection?”

“Umm, yeah, I think we should be able to.” Willow was looking at Tara as she spoke.

“Uhh,” Buffy interrupted, “I’ll need to feel her, but she can’t sense me.”

Tara nodded her head in agreement. “I’ve g-got an idea. It won’t take long to d-do.”

She stood up from the table and went into the library to get the supplies she needed.

“Are you sure about this?” Xander asked. “If it’s going to be dangerous, don’t you think we should all go?”

“No,” Buffy answered. “It will seem like a confrontation and I don’t think that will help.”

“I don’t want you to get hurt."

Buffy smiled at Xander. “I’ll be alright; I’m just going to see where she lives. I don’t even have to get close to her.” Tara returned to the room and she started the spell with Willow.

When they had finished with the spell, Tara handed a small crystal to Buffy. As soon as she took it, her appearance changed. Her hair was longer and a mousy brown, her eyes were blue, and she had glasses.

“I like the other one better.” Xander deadpanned. Buffy lightly smacked him in the head. “This isn’t for you.”

Willow and Tara giggled at Xander. “As long as you have that crystal in your possession, it will work. If you don’t have it, you’ll lose the glamour, and even if you pick it up again, it won’t work.”

“Do I have to hold it all the time?” Buffy asked.

“N-no,” Tara answered. “Just k-keeping it in your p-pocket will be ok-kay.”

“We also did a quick locator spell. She’s in the downtown area.” Willow told Buffy.

“Alright,” Buffy put the crystal in her jeans pocket. Patting it she looked at Willow and Tara, “Thanks for this. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” She turned and headed out of the house.

Stretching her Slayer sense, Buffy could feel a light tingle from Faith. ‘ _I really hope this works. I’m just getting her to trust me, and I don’t want it to blow up in my face.’_ She sighed and started downtown.

Faith came out of the alley and almost ran over the mousy haired girl. “Sorry about that.” She said as she stopped. Buffy was holding her breath, ‘ _CRAP! She’s going to know it’s me!’_ Faith furrowed her brows and looked closely at the girl. Buffy was holding her breath. “It’s okay.” Buffy squeaked.

“Do I know you?” Faith was looking the girl up and down. “There’s somethin’ familiar about you, but I don’t know what.”

“N-no, I don’t think so.” Buffy stuttered. Faith shrugged her shoulders and started to turn away. “Ok, sorry about that.” Buffy was gasping for breath as Faith walked away. ‘ _OH my God! It worked!’_ She waited a few moments to put some distance between her and Faith, and then she turned to follow.

Faith was walking out of the downtown area. ‘ _I wonder who the hell that was. It almost felt like Buffy. Naah, my slayer sense musta been a little hyper or somethin’.’_

Buffy tried to keep to the shadows as she followed Faith. ‘ _Where the hell is she going? There’s not a lot of anything out here.’_ It was getting harder to be inconspicuous in the open spaces. Faith came to a stop at the entrance to Garden Grove Cemetery, and looked quickly in both directions before entering.

_‘Why the hell is she going in there?’_ Buffy asked herself as she quietly followed Faith. Keeping low between the tombstones a couple of rows from Faith, she tried to figure where she was headed. Garden Grove was one of the oldest cemeteries in Sunnydale, so with no new graves, there wasn’t a lot of vampire action and wasn’t patrolled that often. ‘ _What the hell is she doing? There’s nothing to patrol for.’_ Faith stopped outside a mausoleum and looked around the area. Buffy had ducked behind a headstone and remained still. She knew that Faith would be able to see any movement with her night vision. She heard a creak as the door to the crypt opened and Faith slipped inside. Buffy turned her back to the headstone and sat. ‘ _Now what do I do. She can’t live there. If she’s a demon or something, that would explain it, but that would mean she’s probably evil. I need to know, and there’s only one way to find out.’_ Buffy stood from behind the headstone, squared her shoulders and marched to the mausoleum. She paused outside the door and gently placed her hand on it. ‘ _I can do this.’_ She sighed, took a breath and then heaved the door open and stepped through.

Faith was standing there topless when the door flew open and the girl she had seen on the street stepped inside. She dropped into a fighting stance and yelled, “Who the fuck are you?”

Buffy stared at the half naked, wild eyed slayer in the candlelight. Putting her hands up in front of her, “Faith, its okay it’s me. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you’re gonna get hurt. Why are you followin’ me?” She started to move towards Buffy. Backed up against a wall, Buffy tried to appease the other slayer. “Faith, wait, it’s me, Buffy.” Faith stopped and stared, “You don’t look a fuckin’ thing like her, ya don’t sound like her, and ya don’t feel like her! Who are you?”

“Oh, crap,” Buffy said, “Just let me reach in my pocket.”

Faith tensed as Buffy slowly put her right hand in her jeans and pulled out the small crystal. She bent down at the knees, opened her hand and rolled the crystal onto the floor. The glamour shimmered a couple of times then disappeared.

“It’s a glamour spell that Willow and Tara cast.” She stood up again and looked at Faith. She was still tense and in a fighting stance, but she could feel Buffy now.

_‘WOW! She looks incredible!’_ Buffy blushed and looked away from Faith. “Umm, if you want to put a shirt on that would be okay.”

“Huh,” Faith was still trying to figure out what was going on. Feeling the breeze through the open door on her nipples, she realized she was topless. “Right.” Buffy turned around while Faith pulled her tank top on. “Okay, start talkin’.” Faith crossed her arms as Buffy turned to face her. She glanced around the crypt and saw Faith’s duffel bag, a knapsack and a sleeping bag.

“We were talking after you left, and Tara asked if any of us knew where you lived. No one did. Giles said he had asked, so we knew you wouldn’t tell us. I didn’t think you’d be living here.”

“Where the fuck did you expect me to live?”

“I don’t know.” Buffy replied. “I never thought about it.”

“That’s obvious.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Say what? Hi, pleased to meet ya, can I live at your house?” Faith said sarcastically. “I’ve been lookin’ after myself for a long time. I don’t need anyone’s help or charity.”

“Well you can’t stay here!”

Faith stared at Buffy. “It’s been workin’ fine so far! Where else am I s’posed to go?”

“Umm, my house?”

“I am not gonna live with you.”

Buffy looked hurt at Faith’s statement, “Why not?”

”I hardly know you. What about yer family? Don’t ya think they might have something to say about it?”

“Yeah, you’re right. My mom would have something to say. I think I’ll go home and tell her you’re living in a crypt. She’ll be here in a heartbeat and drag you home by the ear.”

Faith snorted. “No fuckin’ way will she come anywhere near this place.”

“Have you met my mom?” Buffy smiled at Faith.

“No, why?”

“That’s exactly what she’ll do. You can either come home with me, or she can drag you. Your choice.”

“You’d rat me out to your mom?”

“Mom and Giles,” Buffy smirked, “You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

“I could always leave.” Buffy blanched at Faith’s statement. Shaking her head, she replied. “You could, but it would make the rest of us unhappy.”

“Nobody’ll miss me after two days.”

“I would.” Buffy whispered. Faith looked at the blonde slayer with a pensive look on her face. “Like I said earlier,” Buffy continued, “I want to be your friend and get to know you. If you leave, that won’t happen and I’ll always wonder what we missed out on.”

“I already told ya, I don’t do relationships.” Faith looked around the walls and sighed. “They never turn out well.”

“This one won’t,” Buffy turned Faith’s face so she could look her in the eyes, “If you don’t give it a chance.”

“Your mom would come pull me out of this rat hole?”

Buffy smiled, “She’s a Summers, she’ll kick the door down and drag you kicking and screaming the entire way.” Faith smiled back at her.

 “I’ll go, but if I don’t like it, I ain’t stayin’.” Buffy laughed. “I can live with that. Now let’s get you packed.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently I had 4 copies of Chapter 9 up. It may have seemed to be a little repetitive. I am correcting that now.

The two slayers walked through Sunnydale towards Buffy’s house. Neither had said much since they’d left the crypt. Faith stopped and waited for Buffy, “You sure your mom’s gonna’ be okay with this? I don’t wanna stir up any trouble.”

“For the hundredth time Faith, she’ll be okay.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that’s gonna get all excited, then kicked out.”

Buffy sighed, while she looked at Faith. “I understand your feelings, but my mom’s not like that. She’ll get used to it and everything will be ok.”

“Hold it. Whatta you mean, ‘She’ll get used to it’? Where did that come from?”

“Just think for a sec Faith. I’m about to tell her you’re moving in, it’s the middle of the night, she’s going to take a little time to process that. It’ll be fine. Trust me.”

Faith laughed at Buffy. “If I had a dollar for every time I heard that, I’d be rich.” She turned and started to walk again. Buffy caught up to her and fell in step beside her.

“Faith,” Buffy spoke up nervously, “What did you do for money?” Faith stiffened at the question, but kept moving. After a few moments Buffy tried again. “I’m sorry, but I was curious.”

Faith didn’t look at Buffy or slow down. “I did what I needed to survive. Some things I’ve done, I’m not proud of.”

“Did you steal?”

“If I had to, I would.” Faith stared at the ground as they walked.

“I understand” Buffy quietly replied. Faith stopped suddenly and grabbed Buffy’s arm.

“Look,” she said, “I’m not lookin’ for your pity, or your sympathy. I’ve been on my own for a long time and I can look after myself. If I’m going to be your charity case then I’m fuckin’ off.” Faith let Buffy go and started to turn away.

“No!” Buffy answered, “That’s not it at all. I’ve never had to do anything like that. I’m just trying to understand.” Faith could see the hint of tears in Buffy’s eyes. ‘ _Now what the fuck have I done? She’s trying to be nice and I’m jumpin’ all over her. I just never get it.’_ Sighing, Faith took hold of Buffy’s elbow. “I’ve been alone for a very long time. I was a hard ass long before I became a slayer. The only person who’s ever looked after me is me. Anybody else that’s tried has had some kinda deal to make themselves feel good. If people start offering me things, it makes me nervous. If ya don’t trust people, ya don’t get hurt.”

“I want you to trust me Faith.” Buffy could feel the electrical jolts, from Faith holding her elbow, running up and down her spine. Faith let go of Buffy and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I know you do. It’s just going to take me a long time to get there.” Gazing out over Buffy’s shoulder, Faith stood there with a faraway look in her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever trust anyone again.”

“Oh Faith,” Buffy reached out and pulled the dark slayer into a hug, “You will, and it won’t take that long.”

Faith stood there wrapped in Buffy’s arms. ‘ _I’ve never felt like this with anyone before. God, please don’t let me hurt her.’_

“C’mon, let’s go B.” Faith extricated herself from Buffy. “We gotta let your mom meet her new boarder.”

They walked in a comfortable silence, the sound of their footsteps the only accompaniment. Buffy watched Faith with an occasional glance. The dark slayer was deep in thought and not watching where she was going. She stumbled on a broken piece of concrete, causing Buffy to laugh. “Aren’t we graceful?” Faith turned a light shade of pink,

“I was distracted.”

“Of course you were.” Buffy replied. “I assume it was all the stimulating conversation we’ve had over the last ten minutes.”

“Actually, that’s part of it.” Buffy looked at Faith with a raised eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

Faith sighed and bit her lower lip. “Part of trusting someone is bein’ able to tell them things, right?”

“Yeah, that’s usually the way it works.”

“Okay. Back to the question about what I do for money?” Buffy nodded her head and waited. Faith looked around nervously. ‘ _She looks so cute like that.’_ Buffy thought.

“See,” Faith began, “Usually when I’m patrollin’, I’ll find a coupla vamps and beat them senseless. Then before I dust ‘em, I’ll take whatever cash or jewellery off of ‘em.”

“Oh.” Was all Buffy had to say.

“Fuck, I knew it. Now you don’t want anythin to do with me. I always find a way to screw things up.”

“No, no, don’t,” Buffy said. “It’s actually a smart idea. It’s not like they can lodge a complaint or anything. They’re dust. What do you do with the jewellery?”

“Pawn it or fence it.” Faith was looking at Buffy. “You’re not freaked by this?”

“No,” Buffy answered, “You did what you needed to survive.”

“Okay,” Faith sounded rather unsure of herself. “Umm, could you please not mention this to anyone? I’m, ahh, not really proud of it.”

Buffy beamed at Faith, “Of course not. It might come in handy someday.”

“Oh, great, I tell you somethin’ now you’re gonna blackmail me with it.” Buffy giggled and slapped Faith in the shoulder.

“No, if I ever need any extra cash, I can get it without asking my mom.”

“Ahh.” Faith replied. The two slayers turned onto Revello drive and approached Buffy’s house. “My mom should still be up, so I’ll talk to her and we’ll get this sorted out. Okay?”

Faith was really nervous and fidgety. She was looking around with wide eyes, trying to find an escape route. “She won’t try to kill me or anything, right?”

“No, she doesn’t maim anybody till after three days.”

“What!”

“Relax Faith, I’m teasing.” Buffy had unlocked the door and was about to open it. She turned her head to look at Faith, “Everything will be fine. Just relax, and be yourself. It’s just my mom.”

“Exactly the point.” Buffy giggled and opened the door. “Mom? I’m home.”

“I’m in the kitchen Buffy.” Faith put her duffel bag and knapsack in the hallway next to where Buffy had dropped the sleeping bag. She followed her down the hall to the kitchen. Joyce was sitting at the kitchen table reading. She looked up at Buffy as she walked in. “How are you dear? Do I need the med kit?”

“No,” Buffy leaned over and kissed her mom, “We’re okay. Mom this is Faith, Faith this is my mom, Joyce Summers.”

“Hello Faith.”

“Umm, hi.” Faith shrugged and looked at Joyce. “Pleased to meet you Mrs. S.” Buffy smiled at both of them, then sat down across from her mother.

“Faith is the other Slayer that I told you about a week or so ago.” Buffy waited until her mother had nodded. “I told her tonight that she could stay with us, if that’s okay with you.”

Joyce blinked several times, “Oh.” She sat there not moving for a few moments. Faith started to edge out the door. “Faith,” Buffy said, “sit down.”

Faith reluctantly sat next to Buffy and looked at the table.

Joyce pinned Buffy with a cold stare. “Why would you say that without asking me?” Buffy chewed her bottom lip and glanced at Faith. “I just found out that since Faith’s been in Sunnydale, she’s been living in a crypt. I couldn’t leave her there!”

Joyce’s head snapped around to stare wide-eyed at Faith. “You’ve been living in a cemetery crypt?”

Faith dropped her eyes and nodded her head. “Good God! What were you thinking? You’re a slayer! You know what lives in those places! Why would you take a chance like that?”

Faith looked up at Joyce, “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a long time and...” Buffy reached out and covered Faith’s hand with her own, stopping her.

“That’s why I asked her to move in with us mom. I couldn’t leave her there either. I thought she could stay in the basement, and maybe we could talk to Xander and have him put up a couple of walls so she has her own room.” Buffy looked imploringly at her mother.

“She can stay in the basement, but we’ll discuss the renovations later.” Joyce smiled. “Faith, I will want to talk to you tomorrow. If you are going to stay here you will have to abide by the house rules. I expect you to abide by the same ones that Buffy does. Is that acceptable?”

Faith’s face broke out into a huge grin, “Sure Mrs. S, that won’t be a problem.”

“Good, are you two hungry? Buffy’s always starved when she gets home from slaying.” Faith started to giggle as Buffy blushed, “Mom!”

Joyce busied herself in the kitchen, “So Faith, tell me about yourself.”

“Not much to tell really, I’m from Boston and I’ve been here for about three weeks.” Buffy looked at Faith, “Three weeks? You’ve been here that long?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m surprised we didn’t run into you earlier.”

“12 cemeteries, no waiting.” Faith shrugged.

“Faith,” Joyce interrupted, “Are your parents still in Boston?”

Faith dropped her head a little, then looked back up at Joyce. “Don’t know. I haven’t seen ‘em in years.” Joyce and Buffy both gasped and stared with wide eyes at the dark slayer.

“Who looks after you?” Joyce asked softly.

“I been lookin’ out for me since I left home. I do ok.”

Joyce placed a plate in front of each slayer. “I have to work tomorrow, so I’m going to bed. Faith, I believe you’ll be more comfortable talking to me alone. I want you to come by the gallery at 11:30. We’ll talk then.” She turned to Buffy, “You have class tomorrow, don’t stay up to late. You can make up the bed for Faith in the basement. Don’t forget to give her directions to the gallery.”

“Yeah, I got it mom.”

“Good. Faith it’s nice to meet you and we’ll talk tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“It’s nice to meet ya Mrs. S, and thanks for lettin' me stay.”

“We’ll talk tomorrow Faith and then decide for how long that is.” Joyce left the kitchen and headed upstairs. “Night mom.” Buffy called after her. “See,” she said to Faith, “I told you it’d be okay.”

“What are you talking about? I gotta meet her tomorrow and talk to her. After that she’s gonna kick my ass out.”

Buffy giggled and shook her head. “No she won’t. She just wants to get to know you without me there.” Buffy stood and picked up the plates. Moving to the dishwasher, she said, “Go get your stuff and we’ll go downstairs and make the bed up.”

Faith walked down the hall to pick up her gear, then followed Buffy downstairs. “There’s a washroom over there.” Buffy pointed to a closed door. “It’s only a sink and a toilet, you’ll have to use the shower upstairs. That’s the laundry room.” She pointed to a set of bi-fold doors. “And this,” swinging around with her arms spread, “is your room.”

Faith smirked at her. “Thanks for the tour B. I woulda never figured it out on my own.”

“I’m sorry it’s like the whole basement, but I’ll talk to my mom and see if we can build a room for you.” Faith just stood there staring at Buffy.

“Are you insane? This is like livin’ in a fuckin’ palace! Did you not see where I was gonna sleep tonight?”

“Yeah, I did. But that doesn’t mean I can’t want the best for you.” Buffy dropped her head and batting her lashes, looked up at Faith. Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout, she slowly moved towards her. “Isn’t that what you want from me Faith? Only the best?” Buffy had moved right up to Faith. She could feel the current between them. ‘ _If she touches me I’ll explode!’_ She thought. Faith’s smouldering dark eyes looked unblinkingly into Buffy’s green ones. A smile slowly crept across her face. “You’re a piece o’ work B.” Faith stepped back and looked at the other slayer. “I’ve really got my own bathroom?” She moved around Buffy and went to take a look. Calling over her shoulder as she peered in to the room, “This is fantastic B. I never woulda believed it. I can never thank you and your mom enough.”

Buffy rolled her eyes; ‘ _I’ve been passed over for a washroom? I’m crushed.’_ She thought. “Come on and give me a hand making the bed. It’s getting late.”

After the slayers had made the bed, Faith sat on the edge, her hands in her lap, looking at the floor. Buffy tilted her head as she watched the dark slayer lick her lips, ‘ _I know exactly where I want that tongue. I have to get out of here before I jump her.’_ “I’ve got to leave at 9:30, so I’ll make sure you’re up by 9:00. We can have a coffee before I go. You have to be at the gallery for 11:30, that’ll give you plenty of time. Okay?” She waited for a response but Faith was staring at the floor. “Faith?” She moved to kneel in front of the slayer. “Faith?” she asked again. Gently cupping Faith’s chin with her hand, she tilted her face up to see the tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

Faith sighed, “I don’t know how to thank you for this.” Buffy smiled, “It’s what friends do Faith. We help each other when they need it.” Buffy stood and kissed Faith on the forehead. “Everything will be alright Faith. You’ve got nothing to worry about. I’ll see you in the morning, goodnight Faith.”

A weak smile appeared on Faith’s face, “You tell anybody about this, I’ll kick your ass.” Buffy laughed as she headed up the stairs, “Of course Faith, I wouldn’t expect anything else.”

Faith flopped back on the bed after Buffy had gone. Unfocused eyes looking at the ceiling, ‘ _She kissed me! Okay on the forehead, but she kissed me! WOW!’_ Faith reached up and touched the spot where Buffy’s lips had touched her. ‘ _If that’s what a friendly peck feels like, I’ll melt if she ever really kisses me.’_ Sighing, she sat up and started to get ready for bed. ‘ _She ain’t ever gonna do somethin’ like that. She won’t want anything to do with someone like me. I just have to remember that and I’ll be okay.’_


	11. Chapter 11

Faith stood across the street from the gallery. Shifting from foot to foot, the slayer tried to will herself into the building. ‘ _Fuck, how do I end up in situations like this? Buffy says not to worry, but shit, if she don’t like me its back to the crypt, or some other lame ass town. Well it ain’t the first time I’ve been given the bums rush. Might as well get it over with.’_ She stepped off the curb and crossed the street. She walked into the air conditioned room and removed her sunglasses. As she was looking around at the various displays in the collection, a young woman walked up to her. “May I help you?” she asked in a slightly cold tone. Faith felt her eyes run over her. Smirking, she said, “I have an appointment with Mrs. Summers at 11:30. Let’s not keep her waiting?” The woman blinked, then recovered. “Follow me please.” She turned and walked away. Faith followed. The sound of the woman’s heels on the hardwood floor echoed around the gallery. She led Faith behind a wall that opened into office space. The woman turned to Faith, “Wait here please, who should I say is here?”

“Faith.” The woman paused for a few seconds, realizing that nothing else would be said she turned, “I’ll announce you.” and walked off. Faith smiled after her, ‘ _Don’t think yer better than me bitch, I’ll hurt ya.’_  

The woman returned a few moments later, “This way please.” Faith followed her to an office door. The woman opened it and stepped aside to let Faith pass. “Thanks.” she said on the way by. She stopped inside the office and the woman closed the door behind her. Joyce was busy at her desk and Faith didn’t know what to do.

“Have a seat Faith. I just have to finish this.” Faith sat in one of the comfortable chairs in front of the desk, and looked around the office. There was a small sitting area with a couch and chair around a coffee table and two chairs in front of Joyce’s desk. “There.” Joyce said a few moments later. She stood and walked around the desk and sat in the chair beside Faith. “Did you sleep well last night?” she asked.

“It’s the best I’ve had in awhile.” Faith replied with a smile.

“I’m sure.” Joyce paused for a moment and looked at Faith. “There are some things I need to know about you. My daughter has a large heart and tries to help everybody. If you’re going to be staying with us, I need some answers first. I need you to tell me the truth, no matter how unpleasant it is. If you can’t do that then you should leave now.” Her voice had a steel edge to it. Faith sighed and said, “I’ll do it, but there are some things I don’t want to discuss.”

“Faith, that won’t be good enough. Anything you say will stay in this room. Because you’re a slayer, I’m trusting you with my daughter’s life. I need to know exactly who I’ve given that responsibility to.”

Faith bit her lower lip, and looked at her hands folded in her lap. Sitting up she looked straight into Joyce’s eyes. “Okay, but a lot of it ain’t pretty.” Joyce nodded and patted Faith’s arm. “We’ll be okay Faith.” She sat back in the chair and looked at Faith. “Where are your parents?”

“I dunno. My father left when I was three. So I don’t really remember him. I suppose my mom might still be in Boston, then again, she might be dead, I don’t know.”

“How old were you when you left home?” Faith looked at Joyce, “Eleven.” Joyce’s eyes shot straight up. “My God! How old are you now?”

“Old enough.” Joyce looked away for a moment, then turned back to Faith. “Why did you leave?” Faith sat there, quiet, not moving, or breathing. “Faith, I need you to tell me.” She reached out and put her hand on Faith’s arm again. “This is important.”

Faith blew out the breath she had been holding, and looked at Joyce. She moved Joyce’s hand off of her arm and put it on the arm of the chair. In a flat, cold tone, she started to speak. “After my dad left, my mom started drinkin’ and doin’ drugs. She’d drag anythin’ home from the bar that bought her more than two drinks. She went through a number of boyfriends and when they left, she’d always blame me. She’d get tanked up and if she wasn’t happy I’d get beaten.” Faith snorted, “Actually I’d get beaten if she was happy. I tried to please her and look after her, but it didn’t help. When I was nine, her boyfriend decided that he liked me.”

Joyce blanched, “My God Faith, I’m so sorry.” Faith shook her head, “It’s not your fault.”

Faith continued. “He waited ‘til my mom passed out, then he came into my room. I tried to fight him off but I was too small. I told my mom the next day, but she just called me a whore and beat the crap out of me for trying to steal her boyfriend. Like all the rest of the winners she dragged home, he left a coupla months later. The next few were no better. Some gave her drugs to use me. Others just used me. When I was eleven I left.” The silence stretched on for a few moments, Joyce just looking at Faith wanting to hug her. Straightening her jacket, she looked at Faith, “How did you survive?”

“I was pretty tough, and pretty quick. I was also smart. I ran numbers for a bookie, ran some drugs, whatever I could do to get by.” Joyce’s face hardened. “Did you ever use drugs?”

Faith’s laugh was hollow. “I used to smoke pot occasionally, and I drink, but my mom was a terrific role model. I didn’t want to end up like her so I made my money but didn’t use the stuff. I’ve had some brushes with the law, but nothing in the last two years.”

“Is that when you became a Slayer?”

“Yeah.”

“Buffy told me what happened to your watcher. What did you do? Where did you go?”

“I already had some fightin’ skills, so I improved on ‘em. I looked for the vamp that killed my watcher. I spent about eight months with a Sensei in Denver. He taught me a lot about discipline and control. I left after he died.”

“Was it ...?”

“Nah, he was eighty-three. It was just old age.” Joyce looked relieved. She checked her watch, “Faith it’s after twelve, did you want to get some lunch? There’s a small cafe up the street that’s quite good.”

“Sure, Mrs. S, that’d be nice.” Faith relaxed a little. “I’m not really all that comfortable talkin’ about my past. If I could forget it, I would.”

“Faith, our past is a large part of who we are. It’s what we do with it that makes us good or bad. I can see where you’ve made good choices, despite the things that have happened.” She patted Faith on the shoulder. “You are a really remarkable person. You just have to quit selling yourself short all the time.” The two of them stood and walked out of the office. “April,” Joyce said to the woman who had brought Faith in, “We’re going out, call me only if it’s an emergency. I’ll return later. Thank you.” She whispered to Faith, “The things you can do when you own the place.”

They were seated on the patio of the cafe. The waiter that seated them had explained the lunch specials and left them with their menus. Joyce looked across the table at Faith. “I do want you to stay Faith, but we still have to agree to the ground rules.”

Faith smirked at Joyce, “That’s the one thing I was afraid of Mrs. S.”

“Yes, but the key word is ‘agree’. I know from what you’ve told me, that you’re very independent, and I want to accommodate that within reason.”

“That sounds fair.” Faith sat back as the waiter returned to take their order. “I’ll have the Mediterranean Salad with a multi-grain roll and a coffee please.” Joyce ordered. Faith requested the double Cheeseburger Platter with extra fries and a Coke. The waiter quietly raised an eyebrow, “Will that be all?”

Faith smiled up at him, “Are you a gambling man? ‘Cause if you are, when I finish it, you pay. I don’t, it’s a ten dollar tip?” The waiter looked at Faith’s cocky grin, “It’s tempting, but no thanks.”

Joyce smiled at Faith, “Do you pay for a lot of meals that way?” Faith laughed. “Yeah, it cuts down on the grocery bill.” 

“So,” Joyce said, “back to our conversation. Buffy usually has to be home by midnight, unless it’s something extraordinary. In that case all she has to do is call.” Faith nodded as she listened. “Does that sound reasonable to you?” Joyce asked. Faith nodded her assent. “I will assume that you have been sexually active.” Joyce half whispered, looking around at the other tables. Faith snorted at Joyce’s slightly embarrassed look. “That would be a good assumption.”

“I’m sorry I have to ask this. Are you seeing anyone?”

“No. I don’t do relationships.” Faith looked away, “Get some, and get gone. That’s my line of thinkin’.” Joyce had a puzzled look on her face. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Faith took a quick look around, then leaned forward to Joyce, “Umm, I don’t believe in, uhh, overnight guests. Kinda, get what you want, then send ‘em away.” She whispered.

“OH!” Joyce exclaimed, “We should have had this conversation in the office.” Joyce sighed, “What was I thinking.” Faith shrugged her shoulders, “We can wait if you want to.”

“No, it’s okay, we’ve gone this far.” Joyce replied. The waiter returned with their orders. They sat in silence while he served them. After a few moments, Joyce put her fork down. “Faith,” she started, “I have two daughters to think of. Will you understand if I ask you not to have any ‘guests’ over to the house?”

“I understand.”

“Thank you. I can’t tell you what you can and cannot do in respect to that, but please be careful?”

“Always am.” They ate quietly for a few minutes, enjoying the afternoon sun on the patio.

Joyce placed her fork down and used her napkin. “Faith, you left home when you were eleven, correct?”

“Yeah.” Faith replied.

“Did you continue with school or was that it?”

Faith looked directly into Joyce’s eyes. “I wasn’t goin’ anywhere near someplace they could find me.”

“I understand. What grade did you finish?”

“Seven. I actually skipped a grade before everything, uhh, changed.”

Joyce raised an eyebrow at the statement. “I’m proud of you Faith, but if you’re going to live in my home, you’ll have to return to school.”

“Go back to school? Yer insane, right? Like I’d be, five years older ‘n anybody else! I’d be expelled inna week!”

“Faith!” Joyce quietly snapped. “Let me finish please.” Faith leaned back in her chair, defiantly looking at Joyce. ‘ _Man, I knew this was too good to be true. There’s always somethin’ that fucks it up._ ’ She thought to herself.

Joyce took a calming breath, and started again. “There is a school here for people in your position. You won’t be going back to Grade Eight. It’s to get your GED. It’s the equivalent of a High School Diploma. You do it at your own speed and after that you can think about college or a trade school.” Faith blinked at her.

“So, what yer tellin’ me is I go to this school and there’s people my age, takin’ like Grade Eight and shit?”

“Faith, please, your language.” Joyce reprimanded her. “Actually you’ll probably find most of them are older than you.”

“Oh.” Faith pondered the implications for a few minutes. “Supposin’ I do this, why would I want to?”

Joyce cocked her head as she looked at Faith, “You need an education if you want to do anything with your life. To get a decent job, to run your own business,” she looked around conspiratorially, then leaned forward and whispered, “to be a better Slayer.”

“Well, ‘cause of the slayer bit, I ain’t gonna live that long, so why bother?”

Joyce’s jaw dropped. Icily, she said, “I cannot believe you just said that. Do you have a death wish?”

“No, but it’s my reality.”

“I understand it’s dangerous and I live with that everyday. The fact that my daughter may not come home. However that doesn’t mean I don’t want her to have dreams and aspirations. That I want her to make something of herself, and if it helps with her slaying, then that’s something that will prolong her life. Faith, I want the same things for you that I want for my daughters, and a long life is one of them. I want you both prepared for that.” Faith looked around at the other tables. Only one or two people seemed to have noticed the change of tone in their conversation.

“Can I have some time to think about it?”

“It’s Friday, let me know by Tuesday and then we’ll make the arrangements.”

“You sound pretty confident.”

Joyce smiled and patted Faith’s hand, “I know my girls make the right decisions.”

Shaking her head, Faith replied, “Man, no wonder the gallery is so successful.”

Joyce grinned at her, “I’ll take that as a compliment.” The waiter appeared, “Anything else ladies?”

“No thanks.” They both replied. He placed the bill on the table and left. Joyce checked the bill, then opened her purse and paid the tab. “Let’s go back to the office and we’ll finish up there. Okay?”

“Sure.”

When they returned to the Gallery, Joyce asked, “Would you like something to drink?”

“Just some water, thanks.”

“April,” she asked, “Would you bring two bottles of water to my office please.” Joyce ushered Faith into her office and they quietly sat on the couch. April brought the water in and placed it on the table. She closed the door on the way out. “So Faith, are you comfortable with this so far? You haven’t said much about it.”

“I’ve been thinkin’, and I don’t know why, but you know more about me than anyone else. I ain’t ever told anyone that much about me ever. Usually it’s just what they need to know, and that’s that.”

Joyce nodded, “How does that make you feel?”

Faith held out her arms in front of her, “Don’t see no scars.” She smiled. Joyce laughed, “That’s what happens when you trust someone.” She shifted on the couch to face Faith, “I have another question, if you don’t mind.”

Faith looked at her, “After what I’ve told you so far, there ain’t much left.”

“Yes, well, just one more thing. Your duffel bag and your knapsack.”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Umm, those are your only possessions?” Faith was quietly looking at the floor. Finally she whispered, “Yes.”

“Tomorrow is Saturday, I’ll give Buffy my card and she’ll take you to the mall and you can buy a new wardrobe.”

Faith groaned and her head lolled onto the back of the couch, “You hate me don’t you?”

Joyce looked quizzically at Faith, “Why would you say that?”

“’Cause I hate shoppin’ and she’s gonna make me buy all this girlie stuff.” Joyce laughed, “Only if you let her Faith.”

“Yeah, but we both know she’s gonna try real hard.”

“Not my problem Faith, you’ll have to deal with her.” Joyce stood and extended a hand to Faith. She took it as she got off the couch. “Welcome to the family Faith.”

“Thanks Mrs. S.”


	12. Chapter 12

Buffy ran up the stairs to Giles’ house and banged on the door once, then opened it and entered. She looked in the living room at Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya. “Where’s Faith?” she asked.

“F-faith who?” giggled Tara. “Nice try, I can feel her. Did she say anything?”

“Say anything about what?” Faith asked as she came up behind her.

“So how’d it go?” Buffy was bouncing of the walls with excitement.

“How’d what go?” Xander asked. “Lunch with my mom.” Buffy said.

“What!” was the chorused response. Buffy turned from the smirk on Faith’s face. “She didn’t tell you?”

“Tell us what?” Willow asked.

Faith crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway. She just smiled as Buffy turned to look at her. Buffy turned to face her friends, “Umm, okay, Faith moved into my house last night, and she had to meet with my mom today to discuss it.”

“What!” Willow yipped; Tara smiled and looked through her hair at Faith, “Are you orgasm buddies now?” Anya asked. “Anya!” Xander groaned, “You can’t ask them that!”

“Why not?” she replied. “Isn’t that the reason Faith would move in? It’s why I moved into your parent’s basement.”

Xander sighed, “We were dating and when we got to that point we moved in together, they’re not dating, so Faith wouldn’t move in for that reason.” He stopped and blinked a couple of times. Everyone in the room had turned to look at him. Faith just smirked at him. “Uhh, you aren’t dating? Are you?” his voice trailed off. Buffy waited a few moments before turning to Faith. “You want to tell them?” she said with amusement in her eyes. The whole gang sat there holding their breath. “Go ahead, they’re your friends.” Buffy turned back to the wide eyed Scoobies. “No, we’re not dating. When I found her last night, she was living in a, umm, not a very nice place. So we went home and talked my mom into letting her stay at our house.”

Willow blinked a couple of times and looked between the two smiling slayers. “Oh, OHH!” she said suddenly, “That makes sense now.”

“What?” Faith asked. “Umm,” Willow turned bright red, “Uhh, just a conversation I had, umm, no biggie, just a little talk I had with a friend, you know just chitchat...” Tara grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Willow smiled at her and the babbling stopped.

“So,” Buffy turned back to Faith, “What did you talk about?”

“Lots of stuff. We agreed on some rules, but she wants me to go to school and get my GED. I ain’t sure about that.”

“Why not?” Buffy asked tilting her head. Faith snorted in reply.

“Probably ‘cause I been out of school for five years.” Buffy shrugged her shoulders, “Not a problem, you’ve got all of us to help you.” The rest of the group nodded their heads in agreement. “We’d be g-glad to help Faith.” Tara spoke up.

Faith grinned at her and she blushed, “Thanks Blondie that means a lot.” Pushing herself off the wall, she headed down the hallway. “C’mon B, we gotta go train.” she called over her shoulder. As Buffy followed her down the stairs Faith stopped and turned. “One other thing,” she smiled at Buffy, “your mom wants us home for supper by 6:30.”

“Look at the smile on that girl.” Buffy smiled, “You’d think she was happy to be going home!”

“You’re a dork B. Let’s get changed.” The two girls bumped and pushed each other, laughing as they walked across the room.

The two slayers walked side by side up to Buffy’s house. “What are we gonna do after dinner?” Faith asked.

Buffy shrugged, “I figure we’ll go patrol, then to the Bronze. Meet up with the rest of the Scoobies, dance, have some fun.”

“The Bronze?” Faith looked at her.

“Yeah, haven’t you been there yet?”

“Can’t say as I found it, when I was livin’ in my crypt.”

“Ahh, right, well you’ll be there tonight. And we’ll have fun.”

“You say so B.”

They walked through the door and down the hall to the kitchen. Joyce was handing a bowl of potatoes to a thin brunette with shoulder length hair. “Hi girls, glad you could make it for dinner. Faith, have you met Dawn?”

“No, she was gone when I got up.” Dawn looked at Faith’s tank top, her leather pants and combat boots. Looking back up at the dark slayer, “You are so much cooler than my sister; can I borrow your clothes?” A wide eyed Faith glanced back and forth between Buffy and Joyce, not seeing any help coming, “Umm, we’ll talk about it, okay?”

“Sure.” Dawn turned and headed into the dining room. “You are not cooler than me.” Buffy pouted.

Faith laughed at her, “You’ll get over it.”

The conversation during the meal was light. Faith was unsure of where she fit into everything, so she just followed Buffy’s lead. Any questions that were asked were answered politely with a minimum of information. Faith had cleaned up some of the plates and taken them into the kitchen. “She sure doesn’t say much.” Dawn whispered to her mom. Joyce patted Dawn on the arm, “She’s nervous, this is all very new to her dear. Once she warms up I’m sure she’ll be much more talkative. However, if she says she doesn’t want to talk about something, just drop it okay? That goes for both of you.”

“Why?” Dawn asked. Buffy silently watched her mother. Joyce looked into the kitchen where Faith was loading the dishwasher. “She’s led a very different life than we have. Because of that, she’s very independent and has a lot of trust issues. When she trusts you she will open up. It will be quicker if you don’t push her. Okay?” The two girls nodded agreement. Faith returned to the dining room and sat down again.

“So Faith,” Joyce looked at her, “Where are you going shopping tomorrow?” Faith’s eyebrows shot up, “Uhh, I uhh, haven’t decided yet.” Buffy’s eyes narrowed, “You’re going shopping tomorrow?” she asked Faith with a hard tone. Faith groaned and rolled her eyes at Joyce. “Didn’t you tell her yet?” she asked.

“No,” Faith sighed, “I was gonna wait ‘til tomorrow, then tell her. That way she wouldn’t be able to plan a whole lot of shi.., I mean stuff.” Buffy stared at her mother and Faith, while Dawn looked between the three of them. “What’s up?” Dawn asked.

Joyce had a huge grin on her face as Faith nervously shifted in her chair. “I told Faith that I would give Buffy my charge card and they could get her a new wardrobe tomorrow.”

“You didn’t tell me this?” Buffy yelled. “How could you not tell me? We’ve got to go to The Gap, there’s Old Navy, maybe Land’s End, Abercrombie & Fitch, it’s going to take all day.”

Faith looked at Joyce laughing and sighed again. “I told you.” Turning back to Buffy she said, “Look, we can go to Walmart tomorrow, I can pick up what I need and we’re home in an hour, maybe two.”

Buffy just stared at her blankly. It was Dawn’s turn to shriek. “Wal what? Mom you can’t be letting her stay here. Please tell me she’s joking, I thought she was so cool. I’m so embarrassed.”

A confused Faith looked around the table, “Somebody please tell me what’s goin’ on?” Joyce giggled at her. “If you’re going to live here Faith, you won’t be shopping at Walmart.”

Faith shook her head at Joyce, “I think I want to go kill somethin’. Shall we go patrol B?”

“Sounds good,” Buffy said, “you’re still not off the hook for not telling me about the shopping.” Faith shrugged her shoulders in response. “After we’re done with patrol, we’re going to The Bronze, so we’ll be home by 1:00 am. Is that okay mom?” Both slayers looked at Joyce. “That will be fine, have a good time girls.”

The two Slayers walked away from the house. Faith was just looking down at the sidewalk, her bottom lip sucked into her mouth, ignoring the blonde beside her.

“Faith.” Buffy asked and waited for an answer.

“Faith.” she asked again. Finally she nudged the dark slayer, knocking her slightly off balance.

“What the...?” she said glaring at Buffy.

“You’re not paying any attention to me, what’s wrong?”

“I’m just tryin’ to figure all this shit out.”

“What shit?”

“Why you and your mom are bein’ so nice to me. I’m tryin’ to figure out what’s in it for you.”

“Oh.” Buffy stopped short, “You think we have an ulterior motive?”

“No,” Faith stopped and turned to face her. “I’m not sure. I’m tryin’ to figure out why anybody’d want ta help me. Nobody ever has.” She looked down and shuffled her feet, “It’s all really scary actually.”

“Why would it be scary? We’re just trying to help.”

“Remember I told you I don’t do relationships?” Faith was so quiet Buffy had to strain to hear her. “Yeah, what about it?”

“I told you they never turned out well.”

“Yeah, so?”

Faith looked around at the dark streets, she put her hands in the pockets of her leather pants, then looked at Buffy. “Don’t say anythin’ alright?” Buffy nodded her head and waited for Faith. She could tell this was hard for the other slayer and didn’t want to break the mood.

Faith heaved a huge sigh, “Everyone I ever got close to or liked, either beat me, left me or died. I don’t want that to happen to you and your family.”

Buffy’s jaw dropped and her eyebrows shot up. She just stood there staring at Faith. “B.” Faith waited, “B, are you okay?”

Buffy blinked a couple of times, then closed her jaw, “Yeah.” she squeaked. “Yeah, I’ll be ok.” She stood there for another few moments, looking at Faith. Taking a deep breath, she took Faith’s hands in hers. She could feel the warmth spread through her body as she held them. “Faith, don’t ever think that about us please. We care, we’re not going to leave you, and we certainly aren’t going to die. We’re not going to beat you,” Smiling at Faith now, “unless you deserve it of course.”

Faith smiled back, “You’re such a fuckin’ dork B.” She held Buffy’s hands for a few seconds longer, just enjoying the sensation. She reluctantly dropped them and turned away. “C’mon, we got vamps to kill and dancin’ to do.”

“So, that’s all?”

“For now.”

They turned into the cemetery and started to patrol. Coming across a couple of fresh graves, they sat on the headstones and waited. “I’m starting to recognize that, ‘I’ve got something to say and don’t know how to start look.’ on your face.” Buffy said to Faith. “What do you want to tell me now?”

Faith tilted her head and looked at Buffy with a small smirk, “I wanna talk about tomorrow.”

“What about it? We’re going shopping, and you get to be my own personal Barbie. Although with your dark hair, you’re more like Midge.”

“Who the fuck is Midge?”

Buffy looked at Faith and blinked. “Midge is one of Barbie’s best friends, don’t you know that?”

“Umm, no, I, uhh, didn’t have a lot of toys growin’ up.” Buffy blushed at Faith’s statement. “I didn’t realize...”

“It’s five by five B. You didn’t know either.”

“It’s what?”

Faith sighed, “It’s okay B, it’s okay. What I wanted to tell you was I’m not comfortable spendin’ a lot of your mom’s money on clothes for me. All I really need is a coupla t-shirts, some jeans and some underwear. I don’t need a lot of stuff.”

“I know Faith.” Buffy replied mockingly. “Because you weren’t going to tell me about shopping ‘til tomorrow, you’re going to try on everything I give you, or I’m going to make you miserable.”

“Will it help if I tell you I already am?”

Buffy laughed, “You’re not getting off that easily.”

A hand suddenly broke through the sod in front of them and flung a necklace with a cross away from it. Faith hopped off the headstone she was sitting on and picked it up. “Hey,” she said to Buffy, “It’s got diamonds I think. Should be worth some money.” She stuffed it into her pocket and turned to face the vampire whose head was now emerging from the grave. She crouched down to look at the new vamp. It blinked at her, “You don’t look like my sire.” it said.

“That would be a no.” Faith replied. “However, today is the first day of your eternal life. ‘Cause you’re a vamp, you have immortality. That’s the good news. The bad news is me,” Faith pointed to her chest, then pointed to Buffy, “and her, are vampire slayers. Roughly translated, your immortal life has about 20 seconds left. Any questions?” The vampire struggled to pull herself out of the grave. Faith could see the burn mark on her throat from the cross. “Why?” was her only question.

“Ah,” Faith replied. “You have no soul, you’re evil and you feed off humans. It’s our job to kill you.” The vampire was trying to follow the logic.

“Where’s my soul?” Faith shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know. Buffy?”

The vampire turned to Buffy and looked at her. “I think it’s like in limbo, and when we stake you, it’s released.”

“Cool.” Faith and the vampire replied in unison. Buffy giggled as she sat there watching the two of them.

“Where does it go when it’s released?” the vamp asked.

“I think that depends on whether you’ve been a good person or not. Just to be on the safe side, if I were you, right now I’d be asking for forgiveness.”

“Does that mean you’ll spare me?”

Faith chuckled, “No, it means you may not end up in hell.”

“OH!” The vampire closed her eyes and started to pray. When she finished she looked at Faith, then to Buffy. “Now what?”

“Well,” Faith said, “you can be staked by the great Buffy Summers, champion of all that is good, or me. Your choice, but we are running out of time.”

The vamp looked back and forth between the two slayers. “You’ll do.” She said to Faith.

Faith nodded and pulled a stake from the back of her leather jacket. “Those are nice rings, do you mind?”

The vampire looked at Faith, “Oh well, I guess not, I won’t need them will I.”

“Umm, no, you’ll turn to dust, so no.” The vamp took them off and gave them to her. Faith leaned forward and whispered into her ear, “I forgive you.” As the last word passed her lips, she ran the stake through the vamp’s heart. Buffy looked quizzically at Faith. “She smiled just before you staked her, why?” Faith shrugged her shoulders and got to her feet.

“No, what did you say to her?” Buffy followed the slayer as she walked away. “If you don’t tell me, there is gonna be so much frilly stuff tomorrow, pink frilly stuff actually, you’re going to think you’re a piece of cotton candy.” Faith groaned, rolled her eyes then looked at Buffy.

Shaking her head she said, “I told her I forgave her.”

“You what!” Buffy gasped. “You forgave her? Oh man, here I am thinking you’re the toughest person I’ve ever met, and you forgave her?” The blonde broke down in a fit of laughter. Faith just stood there waiting for Buffy to finish. “You done yet?” Buffy waved her hand at Faith as she continued to giggle.

“Man, that’s hilarious. From now on I’m just going to call you ‘Marshmallow Girl’, or maybe ‘Stay-Puft’. “

Faith looked at her, “You do and I’ll kick your ass into a week Tuesday.”

Buffy broke into another fit of giggles. “I’m sure Stay-Puft.”

“Stay who?” Spike asked.

“Oh crap.” Faith said, “Just what I need, another comedian.”

“What’s with ‘er?” Spike asked, ignoring Faith.

“Nothin’,” Faith answered, “she’s just been havin' to much fun. What’s up with you?” Buffy was starting to calm down and straighten herself out. “Hey Spike.” She smiled at Faith, “Just having some fun with Faith is all.”

“Looks like you bloody near pissed yourself. Could ‘ear ya ‘alf way ‘cross the bleedin’ cemetery.”

Buffy grinned at him, “You really had to be there. So, what’s up?”

“Not much. There’s nothin’ out tonight. “Aven’t seen a bloody thing.”

“Well,” Buffy shrugged, “we’re going to the Bronze then, are you coming?”

“They let him in?” Faith asked incredulously. Spike stared hard at her. “If I don’t cause any bleedin’ trouble, they don’t have a problem. Is that a problem for you?”

Faith put her hands up, “Don’t get pissy, I’m just askin’ Bleach-boy.

“Both of you stop it now or neither one of you is getting in. Now let’s go dancing.” Buffy said as she led them away.


	13. Chapter 13

Buffy, Faith, and Spike turned off of Third Street and headed down the alley to The Bronze. Faith looked around at the entrance to the club, and turned to Buffy. “What kinda joint is this?”

“It’s an All Ages Club. When you get in you get a red wristband if you’re of age or a green one if you’re underage. That way the bartenders know what you can buy. They’re pretty strict about it, and that’s why most of the kids in Sunnydale are here.”

“So,” Faith replied, “for Bleach-boy, this is like an all you can eat buffet?”

Spike slipped into game face and started to advance on Faith. “If it wasn’t for this bleedin’ chip in my goddamn skull, I’d fuckin’ kill you now.”

Buffy grabbed Spike from behind and pulled him back. Faith had put her hands up and backed away from Spike. “I don’t wanna start a fight with you Bleach-boy, I’m just askin’. You have a chip, but there’s a lotta vamps that don’t. So it could be a buffet. Just not necessarily yours.”

“Why do you always antagonize him Faith? He helps with whatever he can, you should be nice to him.”

“I’m still learnin’ to trust him, so I’m cautious. If he’s focusin’ on me, he ain’t makin’ someone else into lunch.” Faith dropped her hands and looked at Buffy. “I’m sorry if I hurt his feelin’s but I need to ask. I have to go for a bit, so I’ll meet the two of you inside. I’ll be back shortly.” Faith turned and disappeared into the darkness.

“Where the ‘ell is she goin’?” Spike asked. Buffy released her grip on his arms and shrugged her shoulders. “It’s Faith, who knows. She says she’ll be back shortly, she will.”

Spike looked at the blond slayer for a moment. “You seem to believe in her a lot, why?”

Buffy sighed and looked at Spike. “There’s something about her that tells me she won’t do anything to hurt me. That despite everything that might happen, I can count on her. Much the same way I know I can count on you.”

Spike stared at Buffy, she smiled at the shocked look on his face, “Yes, William, I can count on you. Now let’s go inside and find the rest of the gang.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him past the bouncers into the club. They found Willow, Tara, Xander and Anya at a table in the back of the club. Buffy and Spike plopped down into two chairs and started to relax. The rest of the gang looked at the two of them for a moment, then Xander asked, “I thought Faith was with you?”

“The bint was, but then she left.” Spike replied. A number of eyebrows were raised around the table. Spike winced when Buffy smacked him in the shoulder. “She’ll be back in a bit. She had something to do first. She’ll find us here.” The rest of the group looked at each other and shrugged. If Buffy said Faith was going to show, then Faith would be there. The conversation drifted between school work and gossip for several minutes. They were yapping about who was there and with whom. The six quietly sipped on their sodas and watched the flow of people around them. Xander asked Anya to dance after a while and they headed off to the dance floor. Tara looked at Willow and blushed before she spoke. “Spike, w-would you like t-to dance?” She dropped her head and bit her lower lip. Willow looked at him with pleading eyes, and Spike caught that she wanted to talk to Buffy. “Course dearie, I’d be more’n ‘appy to.” As Spike and Tara headed to the dance floor, Willow slid into the seat next to Buffy. “So, I haven’t heard anything from you since our big talk. How’s it going?”

Buffy sighed, “I’m in so much trouble.” Willow furrowed her brow and looked at Buffy. “How could you be in trouble? You like Faith, she likes you, I’m not seeing any difficulty here.”

“Willow!” Buffy yelped as she looked around the club, “Shhh, not so loud!” Rolling her eyes and sighing, “It’s not that simple. There’s someone else.” Willows eyes popped open at Buffy. “There’s someone else besides Faith.” Buffy whispered. “That’s the problem. I’ve been looking back over my life and my feelings for Faith, and there’s somebody else that stirs the same feelings that Faith does. At least I think they do. I haven’t talked to them for a while, but from what I remember, they’re the only other person that’s made me feel like Faith does. Am I making any sense?”

Willow paused to think about what Buffy had said. Chewing on her lip as she thought, she slowly moved her head back and forth as she weighed her thoughts. “No, it’s not making any sense.”

Buffy sighed and looked at Willow. “Exactly, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“I missed something here.” Willow looked at Buffy. “There’s something I’m missing, but I’m not sure what.”

Buffy sighed and looked at Willow, “Remember the talk we had in the park?” Willow nodded her head. Buffy looked to the dance floor to ensure no one was coming back. She turned to Willow and said, “I told you that someone had shown up and turned my life upside down. After I talked to you I started to examine a lot of things in my life. People I’d met, how I reacted to them, how they reacted to me. I guess that’s what you did?” Willow just nodded letting Buffy continue. “What I discovered is that the feelings I have for Faith, I’ve also had for someone else. But because I didn’t recognize them, I didn’t do anything about it. The big question is can I have the same feelings for two very different people?”

Willow tapped her lips with her index finger as she pondered Buffy’s statement. “Hmm,” she finally muttered. “I think that you could, it would seem a little weird, and I can see a potential for a lot of problems though.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Well first off, do these two know each other, do they get along, and are they willing to share you? That’s just for starters.”

Buffy sighed, and looked at Willow. “I hadn’t even got that far yet. This is more complicated than I thought.”

Willow reached out and patted Buffy’s hand. “You’ll figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” Faith asked as she put a pitcher of beer and some empty glasses on the table. “Faith! What are you doing? How did you get that? Are you trying to get us kicked out?” Buffy hissed at her. “Nah,” Faith shrugged, “I just thought we could have a beer or two while we’re here. That’s all. If you don’t want any, then don’t. No biggie.”

Buffy shook her head, “How did you get that” Willow asked.

“With this.” Faith held up her left hand with the red bracelet. “I got ID that says I’m twenty-one.” She picked up the jug and poured a glass for herself. “Help yourself.”

“Where’d you get the fake ID?” Buffy asked. “A guy I met in my travels.” Faith answered. “I can get him to make one for you, but its fifty bucks. It’s real good though. As you can see, it works here.” Buffy reached tentatively for a glass. Faith picked up the jug and started to pour for her. “Just a half.” Buffy told her. “If I come home smelling like a brewery my mom’ll kick my ass.”

“And mine.” Faith smiled at her. “I don’t think she’ll be happy with me corruptin’ you. You want some?” she pointed the jug at Willow.

“No thanks,” Willow shook her head. “It doesn’t agree with me.”

Spike grabbed a glass and held it out to Faith, “Don’t mind if I do. Nice to see you made it.” Faith smirked and poured his beer. “Next pitcher is yours.” Spike’s eyebrows shot up. “What? I ain’t buyin’ your beer all night. You can buy some as well.”

“That only sounds fair Spike.” Xander chirped as he held out a glass. “I think that’s a splendid idea.”

“Don’t forget to take your own bloody turn.” Spike mumbled at him. The rest of the table laughed at the perturbed vamp. Faith turned to look at the dance floor then back to the table. “I’m gonna go have some fun.”

The group watched her walk onto the floor and start to move; she just let the music slide over and around her. Feeling the beat and letting it drive her inner rhythm, she swayed back and forth, her arms picking up the movement. Her hips moving in time to the music, the world fell away. She was alone with her thoughts for a few moments. Buffy watched as she danced, _‘Wow, she can move. It’s so sensuous. I just want to hold her against me and move with her.’_ Willow nudged her gently, and whispered, “You should go dance with her.” Buffy blinked at Willow, “I should dance with her?”

“Yeah, that whole I like you and want to be close to you thing.” Buffy’s head whipped around to stare at Willow with wide eyes. “Yes, Buffy, it’s that obvious.”

“Do you think she knows?” Buffy whispered back. “She won’t if you don’t do anything.” Willow told her. Buffy thought for a moment and looked out at Faith on the dance floor. There were a number of eager young men who were trying to get into Faith’s space, but she was gently trying to turn them away. “Yeah,” Buffy said to Willow as she stood, “I’d better go rescue her.”

She walked out to where Faith was dancing and started to move. Her motions mimicked Faiths and it brought a slow sultry smile to the dark slayers face. She moved closer to Buffy and placed her knee between Buffy’s legs. _‘She’s so fuckin’ hot.’_ Faith thought, _‘I wonder if she has any idea what she does to me? I think it’s time ta find out.’_ Faith dropped her hips and moved right up to Buffy, She placed her hands on the blonde’s hips and pulled her forward. The jolt that ran through Buffy as she was pulled closer to Faith was huge. _‘If I didn’t think there was anything there before, I was so wrong. I’ve never been this turned on in my life!’_ Buffy reached out and rested her hands on Faith’s upper arms. Her body just naturally flowed with Faith. _‘God,’_ she thought, _‘it’s like I was made for her.’_ Faith moved her leg and the top of her thigh slid along Buffy’s denim clad pussy. Buffy’s breath caught in her throat and she smiled as her body twitched. _‘I’m so freaking wet, it feels like I pissed myself.’_ Faith thought. She knew there was no going back, that this was the person she’d been waiting for. Faith was thrilled with the feel of Buffy’s touch. People on the dance floor had stopped to watch the two girls dancing. Their movement, the friction between their thighs, they could feel the passion building within them. Buffy’s hand grazed the side of Faith’s warm full breast and she could see Faith’s nipples poke against the material of her tank top. She slowly moved her eyes up to Faith’s smouldering black orbs. Little daggers of arousal were all she could see. Faith was aflame and Buffy was doing it to her. It shook her to the core. She wanted to do nothing but cause Faith to look like that again, and again. Faith slowly dragged her tongue across her lips wetting them, promises of what else she could do. Buffy’s nerves were vibrating with the sensation of holding Faith and being so close, she’d never felt so alive. No one she’d ever touched had ever made her feel like this. The lust that was running through her veins turned her eyes to a deep, deep green. Buffy watched Faith lean in towards her with her mouth, _‘She’s going to kiss me!’_ Buffy thought. She tilted her head to meet Faith’s encroaching mouth. Looking straight into Faith’s eyes, she saw them widen, then harden as Faith turned angry. Her right hand released Buffy’s hip as she threw her elbow back behind her and twisted away from Buffy. She stood there feeling the heat from her body cooling off as Faith moved further away. She blinked as Faith confronted a frat boy behind her. He reached down and grabbed his dick, “You want some?” he leered at Faith. She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, her right foot shot out and swept the feet out from under him. As they fell to the floor, Faith twisted the boy’s arm behind him and dropped her knee onto his back.

“Get off me you psycho bitch!” the frat boy yelled from the ground. Faith leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “You ever grab my ass again; they’ll find your balls in your ears and your dick down your throat.”

“You’re nuts!” He was struggling on the floor trying to throw her off. Faith leaned on his arm forcing it even further into its unnatural position. He squealed with the pain.

“You ever do anything like that again and this arm’ll be in a fuckin’ sling for the rest of your miserable fuckin’ life.”

Buffy reached out and gently touched Faith. “You ok?” she asked. “Yeah, dickhead here grabbed my ass.” The two bouncers had pushed their way to where Faith held the guy on the ground. “Break it up! What’s goin’ on?” They demanded.

“She’s tryin’ to kill me!” the frat boy yelled at them. “Why?” one of them asked.

“He grabbed my ass.” Faith said flatly. “I don’t put up with that shit unless I want someone to grab my ass.”

“You have a point. You can let him up now and we’ll look after this.” The larger one said. Faith stood, and the two bouncers helped the guy to his feet. “We’re going to have to ask you to leave sir.”

“What?” he yelled. “She tried to kill me! She attacked me!”

“Nope, we saw you grab her, she just defended herself. We won’t put up with it either. Besides, you should want to leave. You just had your ass handed to you by a girl.” The guy blinked a couple of times then turned red as the realization sunk in. He noticed the other patrons giggling and pointing at him. Head down he turned and walked away with one bouncer escorting him. “Sorry Miss. Nice take down by the way.” The bouncer apologized to Faith. She nodded, “Thanks for your help. C’mon B, let’s go sit down.” She draped her arm over Buffy’s shoulder and they headed back to the table.

“What happened?” Willow asked as they sat down. “Some fucker grabbed my ass while I was dancin’. I straightened him out.” Faith said.

“From ‘ere, it looked like you bloody well tried to rip ‘is arm off.” Spike smirked at her.

“He can still use it, so it wasn’t that bad.” Faith replied. “They asked him to leave, so I’m five by five.”

“What d-does that mean Faith?” Tara asked quietly.

Faith smiled at her, “It’s just somethin’ I picked up. It means everythin’ is ok.”

“That m-makes sense.” Tara smiled back. Conversation around the table drifted back and forth between the friends. Buffy sat fairly close to Faith and occasionally they would touch. She could feel the jolt every time they made contact. _‘I was so close to her kissing me. How do I get that back? Maybe I should just grab her and let her have it?’_ she thought as she looked around the table. _‘No, if I did that, Xander would pass out and Willow would explode. Could be fun though.’_ she smiled to herself. Faith had been watching Buffy’s meditation. She casually put her hand on Buffy’s thigh, “What’s up B? Yer spacin’ again. Is that your natural state?”

Buffy leaned into Faith and poked her, “No, I’m just thinking I’ve had enough excitement and we should go.”

Faith snorted, “Nah, it’s early yet, I think I’ll stay for awhile yet. You can go if you want.” Buffy’s face fell for a brief second, then she pasted a smile on her face. _’I thought she felt the same way I do. Now what? I’ve made such an ass of myself; I’ll never live this down!’_ she thought. “Ok, don’t forget you need to be home by one.” She turned to the table, “I’ll see you guys later.” As she turned from the table, Faith lightly grabbed her arm, and turned her back.

“I’m teasin’ ya.” Faith smiled as she looked directly into Buffy’s eyes. “It’s dangerous out there; I can’t let you walk home without some protection.”

Buffy’s eyes lit up along with her smile. “I don’t need your protection Faith. I think I can handle it on my own.” Willow rolled her eyes at Xander, while Tara giggled. Faith’s voice dropped an octave and sent a chill through Buffy, “I didn’t say you ‘needed’ my protection, I thought you ‘wanted’ it?”

Buffy leaned forward until her forehead gently touched Faith’s. “I think I need ‘it’, and want ‘it’. If that’s ok with you?” she whispered. Faith nearly leapt off the chair. “Right, we gotta go shoppin’ tomorrow, so I’m gonna need all the sleep I can get.” She started to push Buffy away from the table and towards the exit. “See you guys later.” she yelled over her shoulder as they disappeared.

“What the hell happened?” Xander asked. Anya sighed, “They’re going home to have orgasms silly. Like we should.”

“Oh,” Xander replied. Looking at his watch, “Geez, look at the time will ya. Bye.” He grabbed Anya’s hand and they left as well. Willow and Tara looked at Spike. “Yeah, yeah, ‘ave a good time, I’ll see ya later.” He waved them off as he looked around the club. “Thanks S-spike.” Tara whispered as they left.

Buffy and Faith walked side by side towards the house on Revello Drive. They walked close enough that they touched occasionally, just enough contact to spark between them. They smiled easily at each other, enjoying the conversation. There was no one out on the streets to distract them from each other. They walked up the steps together and Buffy unlocked the door. Faith was standing behind Buffy and reached past her to stop her from opening the door. “There’s somethin' you forgot to do.” she whispered. Buffy shivered as Faith’s breath caressed her ear.

Trembling slightly, she asked, “What?” She could feel Faith’s smile close to her ear. “You didn’t kiss your date.” Faith placed her other arm on Buffy’s shoulder and turned her. She placed her hands on Buffy’s hips and slowly reeled her in. She looked deep into her eyes to make sure that this was what Buffy wanted. All she could see was joy. Their lips gently came together, the silky feel sending tremors through both of them. Faith sucked on Buffy’s bottom lip and she opened her mouth to Faith. _‘This is what I’ve been looking for.’_ she thought. Faith’s tongue slid into the warm wetness of Buffy’s mouth. Their tongues gently touched, moving faster as the pressure and passion of the kiss increased. Faith, reacting to the heat emanating from Buffy, pulled her closer. Faith’s nipples hardened when she could feel Buffy’s breasts pushing against her own. She gently pushed her knee between Buffy’s legs. They parted easily to allow her entrance. Buffy gasped when Faith’s thigh came in contact with her pussy. Her hips started to move of their own volition against Faith’s leg. Faith hissed at the increase in pressure from Buffy’s hips. _‘I just wanna carry her through the door and do her right there in the hallway.’_ she thought. _‘She’d probably never let me do her again though. Hmm, better carry her to the couch first.’_ Faith started to move her arms up and down Buffy’s back, deepening the kiss.

“Woo-hoo, you owe me 20 bucks Spike!” It was hissed but they picked it up with their slayer hearing. They looked towards the sound in time to see Willow doing the happy dance to the side of a bush. “Willow!” Buffy yelled, causing the redhead to stop in mid dance. With wide eyes and a glowing blush she stared at the two slayers still in each others arms. “Umm, uhh, hi, umm, crap! Umm, just, uhh, passing by, uhh on the way home, uhh right?” She kept looking to see if whoever else was behind the bush would help her, but there was no help coming. “Uhh, so, umm, we’ll uhh, see you. Bye” She stammered, then turned and ran, followed closely by Tara and Spike. Buffy turned to look at a smirking Faith. “So,” Faith said, “How do you think we should tell your friends?”


	14. Chapter 14

Buffy quietly opened the door to the basement and headed downstairs. Peeking around the corner, she could see Faith sleeping. Her hair spread out on the pillow, the blankets rising and falling in time with her chest, Buffy just stared in awe. ‘ _Huh, I thought she looked good when she was awake. She looks so young and peaceful. She also looks incredibly kissable.’_ She thought. She silently walked over to the bed, gently lifted the covers and slid into the bed without disturbing Faith. She stared at the ceiling, _‘Okay, now just roll over and snuggle gently. This should be easy.’_ Buffy inched over towards Faith and froze when Faith mumbled in her sleep. Faith rolled onto her side and stretched her arm and a leg out to grab Buffy. “Faith!” Buffy yelled as she leapt out of the bed and landed on the floor. “You’re naked!”

“Huh?” Faith sat up groggily, looking around the room. The covers slid down to her waist exposing her breasts as she did. “What? Did I miss something? What time is it?” Her head moved from side to side, while her eyes tried to focus. She spotted Buffy standing at the side of her bed. “B? What are you doin’ here?”

Buffy blinked at Faith, and really tried hard to look up from Faith’s breasts, but her mind and eyes weren’t cooperating. “Umm, I came down to wake you.”

“B,” Faith smirked, “My eyes are up here.” She laughed when Buffy blushed. “So, you crawled in with me and then what?”

“Well,” Buffy decided to look away from Faith. “You rolled over and curled up to me and that’s when I noticed the, uhh, no pajamas thing.”

“Oh,” Faith laid back down and stretched, arching her back and pushing her breasts up. “Is that a bad thing?” She watched Buffy struggling to keep from looking. She rolled on to her side and propped herself up on her arm. “I didn’t know that findin’ me naked would bother you.”

“God no!” Buffy’s head snapped around to stare at Faith. “I just wasn’t expecting that.” She nervously stepped towards the bed and slowly pulled the covers up. “If you don’t mind, I’ll crawl in with you.”

Looking into Buffy’s eyes, Faith smiled. “You can get in here. I’ll try not to let my nakedness touch you.” Buffy giggled, “I’m, ahh, pretty sure, it’ll be alright.” She rolled to face Faith. “Actually,” she said in a low voice, “It’ll be more than alright.” As she spoke she leaned in and gently kissed Faith. She tentatively reached out to touch Faith’s skin. It felt like heated silk. Soft, warm, inviting. She deepened the kiss, her tongue starting to explore Faith’s mouth. Her own breath rasping in her throat. Their arms wrapped around each other and pulled themselves together. Buffy tensed as she felt Faith’s hardened nipples pushing into her breasts. She could feel her own nipples stiffen in response to the warmth of Faith’s breasts. Her heartbeat increased as she felt Faith’s hand slip under her top. The heat from her hand sent tingles up and down her spine. She rolled Faith over onto her back without breaking the kiss. Faith pushed her thigh between Buffy’s legs and moaned as she settled onto it. Buffy’s hips started to grind her pussy into Faith’s thigh. Faith’s hips started to move against Buffy. They twisted towards Buffy, trying to find some friction of their own.

“Faith,” Joyce yelled from the top of the stairs, “Is Buffy down there?” Buffy and Faith’s eyes snapped open wide at the sound of her voice. Scrambling off of Faith, Buffy was twisted up in the sheets and ended up in a heap on the floor in a tangle of blankets. A very naked Faith was biting her fist to keep from laughing.

“Yeah, I’m here.” A blushing Buffy called up to her mom.

“Okay, breakfast is ready, come on up.” Joyce closed the door and headed back into the kitchen. Faith grinned at Buffy, who was unwrapping the blankets from around her legs. “What?” she pouted at Faith.

“Umm, ya look kinda cute like that?”

“Ha, ha.” was Buffy’s response. Faith lay back down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “You know we ain’t gonna get very far if people keep interruptin’ us.” She rolled over and looked down at Buffy. “That might be ok for now though.” Buffy stared up at Faith. “Why would you think that?” She paused for a second, “Don’t you like me?” her voice was almost inaudible.

Faith jumped off the bed and grasped Buffy by the shoulders. “No, no, no, that ain’t it at all. I don’t want this to be what I usually do. I want to make this last.” Buffy was looking at the floor. Faith tucked her finger under Buffy’s chin and pulled up her face so she could see her eyes. Buffy could see the feelings in Faith’s eyes and feel it in her touch. She bit her bottom lip and kept her eyes on Faith’s. “What do you want to do?” She blushingly asked.

Faith smiled at her and softly brushed her lips against Buffy’s. “I ain’t ever really dated anyone before. I wanna see what that’s like. Get ta know ya, and then, you know?”

Buffy looked Faith up and down, “I don’t know, like I’ve already seen you naked, so like the surprise is gone.” Faith sat on the floor as she laughed. “Don’t worry, there’s plenty of surprises left.” She pulled Buffy up into her lap and wrapped her arms around her. “Is this gonna be ok with you?”

“If I get lots of smooches and quality Faith time, then yeah.” Faith pulled her into a slow gentle kiss. Breaking it off, she looked at Buffy, “That’ll be five by five B. Now go upstairs, I’ll put some clothes on, and be up in a minute.” Buffy snuggled into Faith and pouted. “You really want your mom to find us like this?” Faith asked. Buffy leapt to her feet, her eyes wide with panic. “No, I’m going, now!” she turned and ran upstairs.

Two hours later, the jeep screeched into a parking spot outside the Sunnydale mall. “You ready?” a hyper Buffy jabbered at Faith. “It’s time to go shopping!”

A pale Faith stared at Buffy. “Ya know it makes a difference if you actually watch the road when you drive?”

Buffy furrowed her brow, “I’m a good driver.”

“Compared to a blind guy maybe.” Faith answered as she struggled to get her breathing under control.

“There’s nothing wrong with my driving!” Buffy pouted and crossed her arms. Faith raised an eyebrow in response.

“Nothin’ a coupla lessons wouldn’t fix.”

“Hmmph.” was Buffy’s response. Faith reached out and put her arm over Buffy’s shoulders. “Let’s just agree to disagree, and go shoppin’, k?”

Buffy sighed and muttered to Faith. “The only reason I’m letting you get away with this, is because we’re shopping all day.”

Faith laughed at her as she opened her door. “We’ll talk about that too.”

Faith shuddered as the two girls entered the mall. “What’s wrong?” Buffy asked.

“Nothin’. These places just scare the crap outta me.” Buffy turned to Faith. “You’ll go charging into a pack of vampires without blinking an eye, and this place scares you?”

“Yeah, it’s like a phobia or somethin’. Can we leave now?”

“Hah!” Buffy snorted. “We’re just getting started.”

“Crap.” was the solemn reply.

They’d been through three stores and Faith looked like she’d been through the wringer. “Look,” she tapped Buffy on the shoulder. “Coffee.” She pointed at small cafe. Buffy looked at Faith, “Okay, but we’re not done yet.”

Faith rolled her eyes and sighed. “I’ve got a coupla shirts and a pair o’ jeans. What else do I need?”

Buffy leaned in and whispered into Faith’s ear. “Lingerie.”

“Gotcha.” Faith hurried over to the cafe.

The two sat in a quiet corner and slowly sipped their mochas. “So,” Buffy looked at Faith. “You want to date me?”

Faith bit her bottom lip as she looked at Buffy. “Yeah.” she answered. “If that’s okay?” Buffy reached out and covered Faith’s hand with her own.

“That’s very okay.” She gently stroked Faith’s hand with her thumb. “What is this wooing going to entail?”

Faith turned a little pink around the edges. She looked down at the table, and whispered, “I’m not sure; I ain’t ever ‘wooed’ anybody before.”

“Oh.” Buffy paused for a second. “What did you do when you went on a date?”

Faith started to fidget, and look around the cafe. “Never dated nobody neither.”

Buffy furrowed her brow and looked at Faith. “What did you do?” she asked. When Faith hesitated, Buffy took Faiths hand off the table and held it in both of her own. “You can tell me anything, I won’t judge you, or hold it against you. I care for you Faith. I’ll also understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Faith looked into Buffy’s eyes, trying to read the blonde slayer. She looked away from her as she marshaled her thoughts. Holding Buffy’s hand, she looked back into her eyes. Buffy could feel the tension in Faith increase as she waited. Faith closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again, they were hard. “I’ve never been on a date. Last night was the closest I’ve been.” Buffy’s eyebrows shot up, but she didn’t say anything. She just waited for Faith to continue.

“I always just got some and got gone. I’d find someone to, uhh, scratch my itch, I guess, and then leave or toss’em out.” She dropped her head and waited for Buffy’s response. _‘She’s gonna bolt. By the time I get back to the house all my stuff will be in the yard and the locks changed.’_ Buffy reached under Faith’s chin and gently lifted it to look at her.

“What you’re saying is there’s a number of broken hearts between here and Boston?”

“Yeah.”

“Faith, you’ve already told me you don’t do relationships, so I kind of expected some short term stuff. You know, see somebody two or three times.” Faith shook her head. Buffy could see the hurt in Faith’s eyes. “What?” Buffy quietly asked.

Faith sighed and tried to look down. Buffy pulled her chin back up. “Tell me.”

“I never saw them more’n once.”

“Oh.” Buffy willed herself to stay calm. “You’re telling me there’s a, umm, number, of one night stands between here and Boston?” Faith’s eyes were downcast as she nodded her head.

Buffy looked out of the cafe into the mall while she thought. Faith just sat there and waited for the dismissal. After a few minutes Faith spoke up. “I understand how you feel; I’ll just go get my stuff and leave. I’ll be gone by the time you get home.”

Buffy’s head snapped around with her eyes ablaze. “You’ll do no such thing missy.” she snapped. “Do you have any idea how special you’ve made me feel?”

Faith looked at Buffy like she’d grown a third arm. “What the fuck are you talkin’ about?”

“Out of all the people you’ve been with, I’m the one you want to take it slow with. You want to date me. Little Miss “I don’t do relationships’ wants to start one with me. Right?”

“Umm, yeah, I do. Why?” queried Faith.

Buffy leaned towards Faith and gently kissed her. “Thank you for that most wonderful of compliments.”

Faith blinked as she stared at Buffy, “What the fuck are you talking about? I’m a slut. Just fuck somebody and go. How could that be a compliment?”

Buffy smiled at her, “That’s one way to look at it. However I choose to think of it as out of all the partners you’ve had, you’ve chosen to be with me. That’s why it’s a compliment. None of those other women were good enough for you.”

“Uhh, yeah, about that.” Faith was looking at the floor again.

“What about it?” Buffy asked quietly. Faith looked up at Buffy as she sighed. “Not all of ’em were women.”

“Ahh.” Buffy nodded. She stared into her coffee cup, and then looked back at Faith. “Did you, umm, use protection?”

“Yeah.”

It was Buffy’s turn to sigh. “Okay.” She looked hard at Faith. “I’m only going to ask you this once. I want a straight answer from you.” A brief smile flitted across her face. “What is this to you?” she said pointing between her and Faith. “Is this a ‘get some, get gone’ or is it something more?” Faith suddenly started laughing and Buffy got furious. “This isn’t funny Faith, this is deadly serious.”

Faith was grinning at Buffy, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it. Did you hear the song that just started to play?”

Buffy listened to the background music for a second. “Yeah, what about it.” Faith was smiling as she shook her head at Buffy. “It’s The Clash, ‘Should I Stay or Should I Go’. Little ironic don’t ya think?”

Buffy smiled back, “Stop dodging the question Faith.”

Faith looked directly at her. “I’ve never felt anything like this before. I wanna see what happens, where we go. I wanna know what it’s like to date somebody. I wanna do that with you.”

Buffy’s face lit up at Faith’s words. “Good answer Faith. That’s exactly what I want. I want to be your girlfriend.” She stood up from the table and held her hand out to Faith. “C’mon, girlfriend, we’ve got more shopping to do.” Faith groaned and laid her head on the table. “You just wanna torture me.” Buffy grinned at the dark slayer. “If you don’t learn to play nicely, I’ve only got two words, ‘Pink’ and ‘Frilly’. Any questions?” Faith groaned louder, “Okay, you win, I’m comin’.”

The next store they went into was a shoe store. “Why are we here?” Faith asked.

“Because you need something other than one pair of combat boots.”

“I dunno, little polish, they’re good for any formal affair, they’re comfy, and I like ‘em.”

“Faith, a woman needs several pairs of shoes, so just get used to it,” Faith sighed and sat while Buffy instructed the clerk. Twenty minutes later she was sitting amidst a pile of open shoe boxes. Buffy was wandering the aisle looking for more shoes for Faith to try.

“Hey B,” Faith called. “I made up my mind. I’m gonna get these two.” She held up a pair of Stuart Wietzman Black Shadow Gator pumps and a pair of Soho Lab Harlow ankle boots.

Buffy looked at her choices. “Those are nice, you sure there’s nothing else?”

“Yeah, we can always buy more later. But I can’t see me needin’ any more than these anyways.”

“Alright, we’ll get them, then on to the next store.”

“Arrgh,” Faith groaned to the clerk. “She’s tryin’ to kill me, I know it.” The clerk just smiled, “Have a nice day.” and handed the bag across the counter. Buffy took Faith by the arm and steered her back out into the mall.

Faith stood in front of the dress shop, peering in the doorway. Buffy was already three rows deep into the store. “C’mon Faith, they won’t bite.”

Faith was looking around as she cautiously entered the store. “I dunno, there’s way too much pastel in here for me.”

Buffy turned to her, “Look around, you might find something you like.” Faith grumbled and started to wander around the store. She found a rack of dresses on sale at the back and started to look through them. “Hey B,” Faith called out. “I found one I wanna try on. I’ll be back in a minute.” Faith turned into the dressing room and started to change. It was a very short black leather dress with a choker type collar. Two straps ran from the collar to the top of the dress. She twisted the dress around so the zipper was on the side. She pulled it up then shifted the dress so it was on properly. She snapped the collar on and looked at herself in the mirror. The dress looked like it had been painted on. The two straps and the front of the dress barely contained her breasts. _‘Man, I love the feel of this.’_ she thought. She turned back to the bench, pulled out her new pair of pumps, and put them on. Looking into the mirror again, _‘Holy Fuck! This is a hot outfit. I really hope she likes it!’_ she thought. She ran her hands down her sides as she checked herself in the mirror one last time. Opening the door she stepped back out into the shop. “B,” she called, as she walked up to the mirrors, “Whatta ya think?” She studied herself and turned from side to side. “B?” she called again. She stepped back from the mirror and walked to one side, watching herself as she moved. “B?” Faith turned to look for Buffy. Buffy, the clerk, two customers and four men in the mall were all staring at her with their mouths open. Faith raised an eyebrow and smirked at the audience. “So I take it that this looks okay?” She did a slow turn just to be sure everyone got a good look. She stepped in front of Buffy and leaned forward a little. “B,” she whispered, “you’re droolin’.”

“Huh? What?” Buffy stammered. The rest of the people that were staring also started to come to their senses. “I’ll just go ring that up.” The clerk said and headed for the till. The other two customers muttered at each other and hurried off.

“Do ya think your mom would mind if I got this?” Faith asked.

Buffy stared at her, “If you don’t get it, I’ll beat you senseless.”

Faith laughed at her, “I’ll go get changed then.”


	15. Chapter 15

Faith walked up to Giles’ house and knocked. “Hey G-man,” she said when he opened the door. “How you doin’.”

“I’m fine Faith, and yourself?”

“Five by five, G.” Giles removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Of course you are.” He watched Faith as she sat on the couch and started to fidget. “Is there something I may be of assistance with Faith?”

“Huh? Oh, I dunno.” She sighed. She looked around the room, then looked at Giles again. “I went to the school with Mrs. S. today.”

“How did that go?”

“Pretty good actually. They seem to be really nice people. Most of the students are older than me though.”

“Yes, well, you did expect that they would be.”

“Yeah. Guess I’m just nervous ya know. It’s gonna be hard with slayin’ and homework and stuff.”

“That’s to be expected Faith. This will be a challenge for you. I have no doubt you will do well if you apply yourself to your courses. You are not dumb Faith; you’ve proven to me how agile your mind is. A little bit of work and you’ll be fine.”

“Yeah but it don’t make me any less nervous.”

Giles smiled at her, “Nervousness is something I would never have thought I’d see in you. You do have to remember Faith, it is not a character flaw to be nervous about a challenge. Once you get into it you’ll see there was nothing to be nervous about.”

“You’re right, my character is flawed enough.” Giles laughed at the dark slayer.

“That’s it Faith, a good sense of humour will help. I have to go out for a bit. I would like you and Buffy to do some training on your sword work. If it’s okay would you mind training her in the style that you use? She’s become quite enamoured with it. It seems that it’s all she talks about with Xander. I’m more of a cut and thrust type myself.”

“That’s good for the short Roman sword you trained her with, but the katana gives you a longer reach and the lightness allows you more flexibility.”

Giles tilted his head as he listened. “You seem to know more than you’ve let on. Any other secrets I should know.”

Faith’s eyes twinkled as she leaned back into the couch. “Are you sure it’s the sword play she’s enamoured with?” Giles furrowed his brow as he thought about her statement. “What else could it be?”

Faith laughed, “You’ll figger it out.” She stood and smiled at him. “Thanks G-man, B’s almost here so I’ll go get changed.”

“You’re welcome Faith. I am here to talk to if you need me.”

“Yeah, thanks again.” She said as she headed down the stairs.

Faith had changed and was standing on the mats doing some stretching when Buffy charged down the stairs. She ran over and leapt onto the dark slayer. Faith staggered as she wrapped her arms around her. “Whoa there B. You tryin’ ta kill me?”

“No, I’ve just been waiting all day to do this.” She brought her lips to Faith’s and proceeded to kiss her. When they came up for air, Faith smiled at her and touched their foreheads together. “Hello to you to.” She lightly brushed her lips over Buffy’s. “Is G-man still upstairs?” She asked.

“Nope, didn’t see him, why?”

Faith gently lowered Buffy down. “He wants me to teach you how to use a Katana.”

“YESSS!” Buffy’s face lit up like a sunbeam. “This is gonna be so cool! I can hardly wait.” Buffy started moving around the room with her hands holding an imaginary Katana and slicing through a pack of vampires. Faith just watched her with a smirk. She walked over to her duffel bag and pulled out the bokken.

“Go get changed and I’ll give you one of these to play with.” Buffy went over to Faith and kissed her. Smiling, she said, “Thank you for doing this.” then went to get changed.

Faith handed her one of the bokken when she returned. “Stand beside me, and do what I do.” Buffy moved to stand beside Faith in the middle of the room. “Wrap both hands around the tsuka like so.” Faith held the bokken with her left hand at the bottom and right hand at the top of the grip. She checked to see that Buffy had it right. “We’re goin’ to go through two short strokes just to get started. Bring the bokken up, so your elbows are slightly bent, then as you follow through you snap your wrists. We’ll do a buncha strokes from the right, then the left, ok?”

Buffy watched Faith move through the cutting strokes, then started to mimic her. After ten minutes, the two were sweating profusely. Faith stopped, and turned to Buffy. “How ya feelin’?”

“This is a lot harder than it looks.”

Faith smiled at her, “Good time to tell ya we’ve only got another 50 minutes to go?”

Buffy gawked at her, “How long?”

Faith laughed as she got them some water. “I trained seven hours a day when I was learnin’.” She handed a bottle to Buffy, “My sensei was teachin’ me a way of life though, not just how to use a sword.”

‘So what are you going to do with me?”

“There’s a lotta things I wanna do with you. As far as usin’ a sword goes, I’ll teach ya the basics. If ya wanna learn more, I’d recommend findin’ a proper sensei.”

Buffy grinned at her, “Dear me, are you flirting with me Faith?”

Faith looked around the room, “Do you see anyone else here?”

Buffy slowly moved towards Faith, “Why, no I don’t.” She looked up at Faith as she closed the distance. It was a surprise when she kissed the bokken blade.

“Uh-uh B, we got another fifty minutes to do. We do it now, I ain’t gotta do it later.” Buffy pouted at her and Faith just laughed. “Don’t waste it, we got work to do.” She turned Buffy so that she was facing away from her. “One of the things you have to learn, is to be able to ignore any distractions. You alternate left and right cuts, and I’ll guide you. Okay?”

Buffy shrugged, “Sure.” She gasped when she felt Faith’s entire body press up against her from behind. Faith reached around Buffy and covered her hands on the bokken with her own. “Your hands go like this.” she whispered in Buffy’s ear as she adjusted them. Buffy could feel the warmth from Faith setting her nerves aflame. She started to push back into Faith. “No B, this is serious. You have to be able to ignore distractions.”

“You want me to ignore the fact that you’re stuck to me, and it’s making me horny?”

“Yup.” Was the whispered reply. “Now, as I go through the cuts like this, you’ll be able to follow exactly what I do with my hands, arms, and legs. Then you’ll learn. But remember to concentrate.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Nooo,” Buffy whined twenty minutes later when Faith pulled away. “I liked you there.” Faith smirked at her. “I’m sure you did. Now we’re gonna do the same thing, but I’ll be next to you.”

Buffy put her water bottle down, “When do I learn how to fight with the katana?”

“This is the first position B. There’s four more, then you have ta learn to string them together. Once we get ta that point, we’ll look into gettin’ you one.” Buffy sighed and let her shoulders droop. “I’ll never get to use one.”

“You’re a dork B.” Faith said smiling. “Like I told you, I started out seven hours a day, and there’s still a lot I can learn.” She moved to the middle of the floor. “C’mon, we got thirty minutes left.”

When they’d finished, Buffy collapsed onto the bench. “I’m exhausted, are you trying to kill me?”

Faith smiled at her, “Nah, just teachin’ the basics.” She reached down and picked up Buffy’s bokken, “You sit, I’m gonna go through the rest of my routine.” Faith stepped to the middle of the room with a bokken in each hand. Buffy watched as the two wooden swords started to cut through the air. In seconds they were a blur. She could hear Faith breathing hard, but she heard no noise from the swords. They never made contact as they whirled around Faith’s body. Buffy stood from the bench and moved along the wall till she was staring straight at Faith. She slowly lifted her water bottle to her lips and tipped it. The water dribbled down the front of her sports bra. Buffy smiled and watched Faith’s eyes as she tipped it even more. Dropping the bottle she started to run her hands across her wet stomach. Still watching Faith, she slowly licked her lips, as her hands moved over her breasts. She moaned slightly as she pinched her nipples through the fabric. Massaging her breasts with both hands she kept her eyes locked on Faith’s.

“Whatcha doin’ B?” Faith panted as she continued her routine.

“Distracting you, why?”

Faith laughed, “Ain’t gonna work B, but yer welcome ta try.”

Buffy shrugged her shoulders and slid down the wall. Sitting on the floor she pulled at both nipples and moaned. Her left hand slid under her bra and she started playing with her right breast. Faith could see the movement of her fingers through the fabric, and still the two bokken never touched. Buffy broke out in a lazy smile as she watched Faith. Her right hand slowly slid down her stomach and started to disappear into her shorts. Faith’s eyebrows shot up as she watched, yet she still didn’t miss a step. Buffy’s fingers slowly started moving inside her shorts. She groaned slightly as her fingers picked up speed while she watched Faith. Her hips started to move to the tempo her fingers set. A gasp escaped from Buffy as she dipped a finger inside herself. She pulled her bra up freeing her breasts as she tugged at a nipple. Moaning, her hand switched breasts and tweaked the other nipple. She inserted another finger into her slit and started to fuck herself harder. She groaned loudly when she started to circle her clit with her thumb.

Faith’s breathing had become ragged. The two bokken cut through the air at a furious pace. Rivulets of sweat were running down her body. Still the swords never wavered or touched. Buffy was furiously humping herself now. Gasping, moaning, grunting, she was past caring if she distracted Faith anymore. She could feel Faith’s arousal through their Slayer connection, and that only increased her desire. She twisted away from the wall so she was lying on her back. The tempo of her hips increased along with her fingers. She was so close now, her eyes squeezed shut, a breast in one hand and two fingers stuffed inside of her, there was nothing on this earth except for the nerve endings in her clit. She increased the pressure from her thumb and continued rubbing her clit. Drops of sweat emerged on her body as she drove herself closer to the edge.

“Fa-a-i-ith.” she cried as she came. Her head flopped from side to side as her body stiffened. Her hips were thrust in the air as she shook with her orgasm. She collapsed in a heap as she sucked in a huge gulp of air. “God!” she moaned as the aftershocks coursed through her body. Slowly her eyes refocused on Faith. She blushed as she bit her bottom lip. “Did I really do that?” Faith nodded as she kept the swords moving. Buffy smiled, then pulled her fingers out of her shorts. Watching Faith, she brought her fingers to her lips and slowly sucked them in. Faith brought the bokken to a halt in front of herself. “Yeah, you did. Now it’s my turn to distract you.” She laid the swords down on the mat and started to approach Buffy.

“Umm, Faith?” Buffy held her hand up to stop her. “Do you really want our first time to be on the floor in Giles’ basement?”

“Oh, God.” Faith crumbled to the floor. “Yer not really doin’ this to me. Are you?”

“It’s not really that I don’t want to, it’s just it would feel weird doing it here.”

“I can overlook that.” Faith started to lean towards Buffy. Her eyes were black with lust and Buffy could feel herself weakening.

“No, no, I can’t.” She reached out to touch Faith’s arm. “I feel strange enough that I did what I just did. I want it to be special, not just scratching an itch. Do you understand?”

Faith’s head drooped. “Yeah, I do. But do you have any idea how frustrated I am right now? I’m gonna explode!”

“I’m sorry,” Buffy whispered. “I could feel your excitement through the Slayer connection.” She smiled at Faith, “It really made things more intense.”

“I’m glad, but it’s not helpin’ me any at the moment.”

Buffy sat up and kissed Faith gently on the cheek. “Trust me, you’ll get it back.” She stood and tucked her breasts back into her sports bra. Turning, she went to the cooler and pulled out two water bottles. She looked into Faith’s eyes as she handed her a bottle. She could read the longing in her eyes and knew it matched her own. “Soon.” was all she said.

The two Slayers sat in the kitchen on Revello Drive. Buffy pushed her plate away and looked at Faith. “I needed that. I was starved.” Faith nodded as she pushed some food around on her plate. “You ok? Did I do something?”

Faith’s head snapped up. “No, I just been thinkin’, that’s all.” Faith took her hands off the table and let them drop to her side.

Buffy stood and moved next to Faith. She stepped over and sat in Faith’s lap facing her. “I’m going to assume you’re done with that.” she smiled. She slid her hands down Faith’s arms to just past her elbows, then pulled her arms up and wrapped Faith’s arms behind her. Placing her arms over Faith’s shoulders, she looked into her chocolate eyes. “Is this better? Or would you prefer this?” Buffy leaned forward slightly and gently touched Faith’s lips. After a moment she pulled back and raised an eyebrow at the dark Slayer.

Faith slowly opened her eyes and gazed into Buffy’s. “I don’t know if I wanna smack you or kiss you.” Faith’s low voice raised the hair on Buffy’s arms. “I’m frustrated as hell, but I’ll do anythin’ for you. It’s no wonder I’ve never dated before.” With a sigh her head dropped forward and rested on Buffy’s shoulder. “How many dates do we hafta go on before we can start sleepin’ together?”

“What do you mean?”

Faith looked at Buffy, “Well, what are the rules? Do we hafta go out three times then its okay to touch each other? Do we hafta go out three or four more times before we can sleep together? How many times have we dated? Does patrollin count? I don’t know the rules and it ain’t helpin’ bein’ so frustrated either.”

Buffy sighed, “There really isn’t a set of ‘Rules’ to follow. When we’re comfortable enough with each other it’ll happen.”

“You looked pretty comfortable this afternoon.”

Buffy blushed. “I’ve never, ever done anything like that before. Feeling your excitement just fuelled my own and I couldn’t stop. Not that I wanted to.”

Faith gently kissed her. “You looked so fuckin’ hot, I almost came just watchin’ you.”

“Thanks for the compliment.” Buffy smiled, then leaned forward and kissed Faith again. “I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I haven’t felt like this in a long time.” Faith furrowed her brow and leaned back to look at Buffy.

“You’ve felt this before?”

“Crap.” Buffy sighed. She bit her bottom lip and looked at Faith. Seeing the question in her eyes, she made up her mind. “I didn’t want to say anything, but yeah. I had these feelings once before, but I didn’t recognize them, or maybe I chose to ignore them. You made me re-examine my life and that’s when I figured it out.” Buffy could see the hurt rising in Faith’s eyes.

“So what does that mean?” Faith asked quietly as she turned her head from Buffy.

“It just means I have some, umm, issues to deal with. Then I’m all about you. Well it’s pretty much all you now anyways.”

Faith sighed, “I’m missin’ somethin’ here. What does this mean for us?”

“It means I have to deal with some questions, and then we’re 100 percent.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

Buffy recoiled in shock, “God no!” She leaned forward and rested her forehead on Faith’s. “I want you right here with me. I just have to sort some stuff out about me. It’s nothing to do with you. Believe me when I tell you I belong to you.”

“Was it Angel?”

Buffy looked away from Faith, she sighed as she turned back. “No, it wasn’t Angel. It was Cordelia.”

Faith paused, “I don’t remember that name.”

“No, she’s in L.A. now. She works for Angel. She went to school with us and used to date Xander.”

“And you say she made you feel like I do.”

“Yeah, don’t doubt yourself Faith. I didn’t realize my feelings with her, but I sure as hell did with you.”

“I never was known for bein’ subtle.”

Buffy smiled at her girlfriend, then leaned forward and kissed her long and hard. “Subtlety is definitely not one of your strong points.” Buffy looked at the clock and sighed. “It’s almost midnight. I’m going to bed.” She kissed Faith again. “I’ll see you in the morning. Okay?” Faith hugged Buffy tight, then kissed her. “Yeah, I should be able to last that long without ya.”

Buffy bolted upright in bed, covered in sweat. She was shaking as she reached over to turn on the bedside lamp. She shrieked when the door to her bedroom slammed open and a naked Faith stood there with a stake in one hand and a knife in the other. “Faith! What the hell are you doing?”

I heard you yellin’ all the way to the basement.” She relaxed as she spoke. Looking around the room, “I thought you were in trouble.”

“But you’re naked!”

“Well, duh! It sounded like you were bein’ attacked. I didn’t stop to get dressed!”

“Here,” Buffy tossed her robe to Faith. “Put this on before my...”

“”Buffy?” Joyce called. What’s going on?” She walked in as Faith closed the robe.

“I was having a bad dream and Faith came to rescue me.” She giggled as Faith blushed.

“Oh,” Joyce looked between the two girls. She turned to Buffy, “Are you okay?”

“Mm-hmm,” she nodded. “It was just a bad dream, and Faith heard me.”

Joyce cocked an eyebrow at her daughter. “I didn’t hear anything till I heard your door slam.”

“It was my Slayer hearing.” Faith spoke up. “I could hear her whimperin’ and moanin’. Then it sounded like a muffled yell, and that’s when I came up.”

“Okay,” Joyce turned back to Buffy. “If everyone’s okay, I’m going back to bed.”

“Me too.” Faith said as she followed Joyce out of Buffy’s room.

“Goodnight.” Buffy watched her mom close the door as she left. She sighed as she flopped back onto her bed, ‘ _Now what do I do?_ ’ she thought. ‘ _I tell Faith about Cordelia, and now I’m having nightmares about her. But that dream really scared me._ ’ She sat up on the edge of the bed, put her elbows on her knees, and held her head in her hands. ‘ _I need to call her. I really think something’s wrong. It didn’t really feel like a slayer dream, but I’m not sure._ ’ She sighed and stared up at the ceiling. ‘ _If I call her and nothing’s wrong, she’ll never talk to me again. The upside would be that I don’t have to worry about my feelings anymore._ ’ She stood up and walked to her desk. Digging around she found her address book and looked up Cordelia’s number. Picking up her cell, she dialed as she sat back down on the bed.

“Who the fuck is that?” Cordelia mumbled as she struggled to pick up the phone. “Hello?” she croaked in a sleep caked voice.

“Cordelia?” Buffy asked. “It’s Buffy.”

“Who?”

“Buffy, Buffy Summers.” She could hear Cordelia rustling around in the sheets.

“It’s two-thirty in the morning, what do you want?” Cordelia snapped.

“I’m sorry to wake you, but I had a nightmare and you were in it. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Cordelia sat up in the bed. “You have a bad dream and you phone me? Why would you call me? Did I even talk to you when I lived in Sunnyhell?”

Buffy closed her eyes, ‘ _This is not going well._ ’ She thought. She sighed as she spoke, “We did exchange pleasantries on occasion. And we were civil while you dated Xander.”

“So that makes it okay to call me at this time of night?”

“I’m sorry, I was scared you’d been hurt. I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Cordelia thought for a moment, “Tell me about this dream.”

“Okay,” Buffy spoke quietly into the phone, “But it isn’t pretty. It really scared me.”

“Just tell me.” Cordelia ordered.

“Okay,” Buffy paused, then started to talk. “You were in a cave, and there were a number of Vahrall demons. They dragged you into the middle of the cave and dropped you on the floor next to a large fire. I could see you moving, so I knew you weren’t dead. I could see what was going on, but I wasn’t really there. I tried to reach you, but I couldn’t. One of them pulled a large knife out and he cut off your clothes. When you were naked another one of them appeared with a long metal pole. It was pointed on one end. They rolled you over on your stomach, then they started to push the pole inside you.” Buffy’s voice trailed off. She could hear Cordelia’s breathing on the other end.

“What happened next?” she asked Buffy.

Buffy swallowed, then continued. “They pushed it into you for a ways and then it stopped. One of them picked your head up off the floor and then two of them pushed the pole the rest of the way through. It came out your mouth. I could still see you twitching. They trussed you to the pole, then they injected you with something and you started to come to. I could see you moving and I could hear your muffled screams. Two of them picked you up and placed you over the fire. I couldn’t get to you Cordelia, everything I tried, I couldn’t save you. It scared the crap out of me. That’s when I woke up.” Buffy waited for Cordelia to say something. She nervously bit her bottom lip as the seconds ticked away.

“You said it was a bunch of Vahrall demons?” Cordelia finally asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied. “There were five or six of them. I’ve never known them to barbeque anyone though. Have you heard of that before?”

“No, but they’re demons, so who knows.”

“I’m sorry Cordelia. It just scared me so badly and I was worried so I thought I should call and make sure you were okay. I know we’ve never really been close, but I didn’t know what to do. And I started to think that maybe something did happen, then how would I feel, so I ...”

“Did you turn into Rosenberg since I’ve been gone?”

“Huh?” Buffy stopped.

“You’re babbling like Willow. I’m okay, and I appreciate the fact that you called to check on me. It would’ve been alright if you’d waited till later today though.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry, I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll let you go back to sleep now. It was nice talking to you.”

“Why don’t you tell me what else has happened since I left. Fill me in on how everyone is doing.”

Buffy looked at the phone, “Okay, who is this and what have you done with Cordelia.”

Cordelia laughed on the other end. “It’s me Buffy; I’ve just changed a little. That’s all. Besides, after what you just told me, it’s not like I’m going to get any sleep anyways, right?”

Buffy smiled and leaned back on the headboard. “I’d like that.”


	16. Chapter 16

Faith was sitting in the dining room, having a coffee, when Buffy came down the stairs. “Hey, how ya doin’?”

Buffy flopped down into a chair and reached for Faith’s coffee. “Uh-Uh.” Faith said, “Get yer own.” Buffy put a pout on, “But I’m tired. You’re my girlfriend, you’re supposed to be nice to me!”

Faith laughed. “I wasn’t up all night on the phone. Who were you talkin’ to?” Buffy looked around for a second. “Fine I’ll get my own coffee.”

Faith looked at her with a raised eyebrow when Buffy sat back down. “Do I get an answer?” she asked. Buffy looked down at her cereal.

“How did you know I was on the phone?”

“Good ears.”

‘ _What do I tell her?_ ’ she thought. ‘ _She needs to know the truth. I hope she’s okay with it._ ’ Buffy raised her head and looked into Faith’s eyes. “That dream I had last night. It involved some very bad things happening to Cordelia. So I called her to see if she was okay.”

“It couldn’t wait till this morning?”

Buffy sighed, “That’s what she said. But since she was awake, we talked.”

“So she’s okay?”

Buffy bit her bottom lip and looked away from Faith. “Yeah, she wants us to go to L.A. and visit this weekend.”

“Oh. This the same girl you were tellin’ me about last night?”

“Yeah.” Buffy looked nervously at Faith. The silence stretched across the table. Faith stared at Buffy, then slowly looked away. When she turned back, Buffy could see the hurt in her eyes. She knew Faith was trying hard not to show it, but it was there.

“So last night,” Faith began, “You tell me all about this chick you think you had the hots for, and tell me not to worry. You wake up in the middle of the night, and spend half the night on the phone with her, then you tell me we’re s’posed to go see her this weekend?”

“Umm, yeah, pretty well sums it up.”

“Did I do somethin’ wrong?”

“No!” Buffy got up and moved next to Faith. “It’s just weird how it happened. I thought she’d get mad and I’d never hear from her again. She wasn’t the nicest person when we were in school. She really surprised me. It was actually her idea to talk as long as we did.” Buffy was running her fingers through Faith’s hair as she talked. “She really seemed interested when I told her about you.”

“You told her about me?” Faith queried. “Why would you do that if you’re chasin’ after her?”

“I’m not chasing her, dummy. I’m chasing you.” Buffy punched Faith in the shoulder. “When are you going to learn that?”

“When I finally get some confidence.”

“Faith, you’ve got tons of confidence. I see it every time we train or we go slaying, or go dancing or even walk down the street. You ooze confidence. You just have to apply it to our relationship.” Buffy sat in Faith’s lap and draped her arms over her shoulders. “You’re the most confident person I’ve ever met. I trust you with my life on a regular basis. I have confidence in you, so should you.”

“That’s a great pep talk. I’ll get right on it.”

“Great, I’ll call Cordelia and tell her we’re coming. We’ll have a blast Faith. Trust me.”

“If I had a dollar for every time I heard that...”

Buffy interrupted her with a kiss. “Come on we’ve got to get to class Miss Moneybags.”

Saturday morning found the two slayers standing in the drive on either side of the Jeep. They had just finished putting Faith’s overnight bag and Buffy’s two suitcases in the car. “You sure you left anythin’ in the closet? Maybe you should go check.”

“Ha, Ha, Ha. I just want to make sure I have an appropriate outfit to wear.”

Faith looked in the back. “I’ve never owned that many clothes in my life. Even if you added them all up from the start, I couldn’t fill those trunks.”

Buffy stuck her tongue out at Faith. “I’ll convert you yet.” She said as she got in the car. Faith smiled as she slid in on the passenger’s side.

“You keep yakkin’ but I don’t see any changes.”

“It’ll be gradual, you won’t even notice.”

“Mm-hmm.” was Faith’s reply.

“So,” Buffy looked at Faith, “We’ve got water, snacks, CD’s, did we remember everything?”

“Yup, brain bucket, insurance, fireproof suit, I think that covers it.” Buffy stared at Faith. “What, you’re drivin’, I think there’s a law or somethin’ that says I need that shit.”

“I wonder if anybody will notice that I beat the crap out of you, before we get out of the driveway?”

“You’re welcome to try.” Faith smiled as she raised her fists in Buffy’s direction. “C’mon B, anytime yer ready. If you want we can wrestle in the back.”

Buffy giggled at Faith. “We’ll never get out of here if we end up in the back. The neighbours would probably enjoy it though.”

“Yeah, your naked ass pressed against the window’ll probably scar them.”

“Eww, gross!” With her head shaking, Buffy backed out of the driveway. “L.A., here we come.”

After they got out of Sunnydale, Faith pushed the passenger seat back and lowered it. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Buffy stole peeks at Faith as they drove down the freeway. ‘ _She looks so young.’_ Buffy thought. _‘She’s a lot stronger than she realizes. I wonder if she knows the difference she’s made in my life. Even if we don’t work out, I still need her. If she feels the same way, maybe we will work. God I hope so. She’s nervous about meeting Cordelia, but then so am I. If those feelings come back, what happens? No wonder she’s nervous, I’m scared shitless!’_ Buffy sighed as shook her head.

“What’s up?”

“AAHH!” Buffy yelped, “I thought you were sleeping!”

Faith snorted as the car swerved in the lane. “I ain’t sleepin’ when yer drivin’. Just ain’t gonna happen.”

“I was doing fine till you startled me!”

“Believe what ya wanna B, but I keep my eye on you.” she said with a smile. “There’s a lot to watch.”

“You’re totally evil, you know that, right?”

“Bad as you want me to be.”

“Why do I even bother?”

Faith smiled at Buffy and blew her a kiss. “Right here for ya B, right here.” She reached across the console and put her hand on Buffy’s thigh. She squeezed it gently, “Right here.” she whispered as she closed her eyes.

Two hours later, they were driving down South Hoover St. in L.A. Faith turned to Buffy, “Did you hear all those guys honkin’ at you?”

“I needed to make my exit.”

Faith started to laugh. “Ya cut across four lanes to do it! Yer lucky ya didn’t get shot at!”

Buffy gave Faith a quick hard look. “I had my turn signal on.”

Faith just laughed harder. “They’ve probably never seen one before.”

Buffy sighed, “We’re almost there. We turn right onto South Alvarado St. then we turn right when we get to Maryland.”

Faith looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk. “We follow Alvarado till we get to the East Coast?”

Buffy smacked her in the shoulder as Faith started laughing. “You’re not helping.”

Still smiling, Faith said, “Sorry, you just make it to easy sometimes.” She took Buffy’s hand off the wheel and kissed the back of it. “I’ll make it up to ya, I promise.”

Buffy snorted, “Yeah, right.”

They pulled up in front of the block and found a place to park. They both looked up at the building, and Faith shrugged. “Looks okay.”  

“Cordelia said to buzz the manager, and he’d let us in to the building, then Dennis will let us into the apartment.” Buffy said as she opened the back of the Jeep.

“Who’s Dennis?” Faith asked as the girls started to pull the luggage out.

Buffy paused as she was pulling her suitcase to the back of the Jeep. “That’s the funny part. I could’ve sworn she said he was a ghost.”

Faith blinked at Buffy, “How the fuck is a ghost goin’ to let us into the apartment?”

Buffy shrugged her shoulders at Faith. “I guess we’ll find out when we get there.”

They hauled their luggage to the door and Buffy scrutinized the call board for the manager’s name. Faith reached over top of her and pressed the numbers for them. “Managers are always 100 on this system.” Buffy huffed and stared at her.

“Hola.” The speaker squawked. “Hi, Cordelia Chase told us to buzz you when we got here and you’d let us in. It’s Buffy Summers and Faith.”

“Si.” was he said as the door buzzed. Faith grabbed it and held it open for Buffy. “So far so good. If we can’t get into the apartment, we can always buzz him back and get him to let us in.”

“I guess that’s Plan B?” Faith smirked. Buffy elbowed her as she struggled through the door with her two suitcases.

The two girls stood in front of the apartment door and traded looks.

“Go ahead, knock B.”

Buffy looked nervously at Faith, she slowly raised her hand and tapped on the door. Faith shook her head as she watched. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s going to answer. Should we go get the manager?”

Faith sighed and gently pushed Buffy aside. She lifted her fist and three loud raps echoed down the hallway. “Hey, Dennis, its Buffy and Faith, Open the door.” Buffy quickly looked up and down the hallway. “Faith not so loud!”

“What? We gotta let him know we’re here don’t we?”

“Yes, but can’t you be quiet about it?”

“Maybe he’s hard of hearin’ or somethin’, relax.” Buffy just shook her head and sighed. They both looked at the door as they heard the lock slide back. Faith looked at Buffy, and slowly reached for the door handle. “Cool,” was all she said as the door opened. They both peered into the apartment, then slowly moved inside.

“Dennis?” Buffy spoke quietly. The lamp by the couch flicked on and off.

“That’s so fuckin’ cool!” Faith exclaimed. “Wow, a real ghost!”

Buffy nodded, “That is pretty freaky.” The two girls stood there for a few moments. “Guess we should bring in the luggage?” Faith asked.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied. “We can just put it over there for now.” She pointed towards the far wall. She looked at her watch, “Cordelia wants us to meet her at a place called ‘Carita’s’, in about two hours. It’s not too far from here, but we should start to get ready. Do you want to shower first, or should I?”

Faith laughed, “I’m goin’ first. I don’t, there ain’t no hot water left for me.” Buffy stuck her tongue out at Faith. “Don’t point that thing at me ‘less you’re willin’ ta use it.”

Buffy curled her tongue up and wiggled it at Faith. “You wish I’d use it on you.”

“God, yes.” Faith turned and walked into the bathroom. She sighed as she closed the door. _‘I want her to fuck me with that tongue so badly, I’m gonna explode.’_ Faith thought as she looked in the mirror. _’This waitin’ till we’re ready is killin’ me.’_ She moved to the tub and turned the water on. She quickly disrobed and stepped into the shower, feeling the pounding spray heat her skin. “Two things,” she said out loud, “I can hear you tryin’ to sneak in with my slayer hearing, and I can feel you the closer you get.”

“Yeah, but I had to try.” Buffy said as she slipped into the shower behind Faith. She picked up the shampoo and poured some into her hands. “I thought I’d help while you were in here.”

“Ahh, so how are you gonna help?”

Buffy stepped inside of Faith and turned her to face the back of the tub. Raising her arms to the dark slayers head, she started to wash Faith’s hair. “I thought I’d start with this.” she said.

“God, that feels good.” Faith moaned. Buffy slowly worked her fingers through the long dark locks. Faith closed her eyes and felt a feeling of contentment wash over her as Buffy gently massaged her scalp. When she had finished, Buffy gently took Faith by the shoulders and said, “Keep your eyes closed.” She moved her under the shower and rinsed the shampoo out. “Switch places again, and I’ll put the conditioner in.” Faith smiled as she moved to the back of the tub again. She groaned as Buffy worked the conditioner into her hair. Little flames were starting to lick at her nerve endings. She could feel Buffy’s excitement through their connection. It just added to the heat spreading to her core. She could almost hear the sizzle every time Buffy’s wet skin brushed against hers. Reaching forward Faith placed her hands on the wall to brace herself. Her breath started to rasp in her throat as Buffy’s breasts brushed against her back. Faith whimpered as she felt Buffy pull away from her.

_‘Oh, God,’_ she thought, as she heard Buffy open the body wash and spread it on her hands, _‘I’m gonna fuckin’ die any second now. Or wake up in some skanky crypt.’_ Faith started to shake as Buffy placed her hands on her shoulders and started to wash her back. Buffy slowly worked her way down Faith’s back, gently rubbing the muscles under her skin. She slid her hands around Faith’s sides and onto her stomach. She leaned in, pressing herself against Faith. Sparks flew up and down the nerve endings of both of them. As Buffy’s hands approached the underside of her breasts, Faith covered Buffy’s hands with her own. “I can’t.” She whispered. “I won’t be able to control myself.”

Buffy placed a gentle kiss on the back of Faith’s neck, “I don’t remember asking you to.”

Faith turned inside of Buffy’s arms so she could see her. She looked into the deep green eyes; Buffy stared back into the smoky dark orbs of Faith. Smiling Faith leaned forward and touched Buffy’s lips with her own. She turned again in her arms so she was facing her. Faith wrapped her arms around Buffy and pulled her in tightly. Their lips parted and their tongues began to dance. Hands started to move, exploring warm, wet skin. Faith dragged her fingernails down Buffy’s back and the older slayer moaned as she pushed into Faith. She pulled her lips away from Buffy’s and looked at her. “You sure?” Buffy bit her bottom lip, then slowly nodded. Faith leaned forward and recaptured Buffy’s lips with her own. Tongues darting in and out of each others mouths, hands roaming over willing bodies, Faith pulled back from Buffy again, slowly she lowered her mouth and gently left a small trail of kisses down Buffy’s neck. Buffy moaned when Faith started to suck on her pulse point. Sliding her hands up Buffy’s sides, she stopped when she reached the bottom of her breasts, and looked into her eyes again. Buffy smiled and kissed Faith deeply. Faith broke the kiss and turned Buffy sideways.

“Put your arm around my shoulders and I’ll support you.” Faith whispered in her ear. Buffy did as she was told, then biting her bottom lip she looked down. “What?” Faith asked.

“I’m, umm, I’m, ahh...” she stammered. Faith smirked at her, “Just spit it out B.”

Buffy sighed and looked down again. “I don’t know what to do.” She whispered. Faith’s grin brightened. “That’s why I’m here. You don’t have to worry about a thing. Somethin’ you don’t like, tell me, and I’ll stop. Ok?”

Buffy could feel some of the tension drain out of her, leaving a pleasant body tingle. “I trust you Faith.”

“I know, and I won’t let ya down.” Faith kissed her roughly when she finished speaking. With her left arm wrapped around the blonde’s waist, she brought her right slowly up the toned stomach to Buffy’s breasts. She could feel the nipple pucker and stiffen as she slowly circled it with the palm of her hand. Buffy put her left arm out to steady herself against the wall of the bath. Faith turned slightly as her hand slowly moved across to Buffy’s other breast. Buffy groaned into Faith’s mouth as she squeezed and pulled on her nipple. Rolling it in her fingers she could feel Buffy shudder as the pleasure sparked her nerves. Breaking away from the kiss, Faith spread her legs so Buffy’s hip was pressed into her pussy. Buffy could feel Faith’s slickness against her skin. Buffy’s breath caught in her throat as Faith dropped her head and pulled a nipple into her mouth. She could feel the fire in her pussy as Faith rolled her tongue around the nipple.

“Nngghhh...” she moaned as Faith’s hand squeezed her other breast. Buffy’s head rolled back and she closed her eyes. Faith kept sucking on the one nipple as her hand traveled over Buffy’s smooth, tanned stomach.

“Put your left foot up on the edge of the tub, B.” she whispered. She parted her fingers as she reached the tight little curls surrounding Buffy’s pussy. Sliding the final few inches with her fingers on either side she asked, “Ready?”

“God, Yes!” was the reply. Faith pulled Buffy’s nipple back into her mouth and squeezed the fingers of her other hand together. Buffy groaned and shook with the feeling. Pulling her hand back up slightly Faith closed her fingers then slid her hand over top of her pussy, cupping it gently. Buffy started to rock her hips against Faith’s hand. Faith let the nipple drop out of her mouth and kissed her way to Buffy’s mouth. When they met, she started to slide her hand back and forth over her center. She dragged a finger slowly between the lips and could feel Buffy’s wetness coat her fingers. Their tongues were dueling when Buffy felt Faith slip a finger inside of her. Moaning she rocked her hips harder, it was driving her wild because she could feel Faith’s excitement rising as her hips moved back and forth over Faith’s pussy. Faith gently slid a second finger into Buffy, then started to slowly fuck her with the two digits. The two settled into a comfortable rhythm. Through their Slayer connection, they could feel each other gathering speed towards an orgasm. Faith moved her thumb up to rub Buffy’s clit. Her breath was ragged as she broke away from kissing Faith. “Hold me!” she moaned, her knuckles turning white as they dug into Faith’s shoulder. “I’m so close!” her body was shaking as Faith curled her fingers up inside and pressed down on her clit with her thumb.

“C’mon B, c’mon,” Faith whispered in her ear. Buffy stiffened as she reached the edge. With a groan and a sigh, she careened off the precipice into darkness. Holding her up, Faith continued to grind her pussy into Buffy’s hip. She braced herself against the oncoming tide as Faith’s orgasm overtook her.

“Wow...” Buffy blinked at Faith, as the two girls held each other in the cool water. “That was... wow!”

“Yeah, wow.” was Faith’s reply.

“It almost felt like I came again when you did.” Buffy said quietly. “That was intense! It’s like a two for one sale.” Faith started to laugh.

“Yeah, feelin’ yours pushed me over the edge faster, this could be fun.”

Buffy put a bit of a pout on as she looked at Faith. “Does this mean we’ll have to do it again?”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely do it again, but right now we gotta get goin’, or we’ll both look like wrinkled prunes.”

“Fa-a-a-i-i-ith...” Buffy whined.

“Don’t look at me, it’s your friend we gotta meet.”

Sighing, Buffy nodded her head. “You’re right, I dragged us out here, so I guess we should go meet her.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic. We’ll do this again, I got a lot to show you.” Faith smiled then gently leaned in and kissed Buffy. “I’m gettin out now. Don’t take too long or you’ll never be ready in time.” Buffy took a swing at Faith, but all she could hear was the dark slayer laughing out of the bathroom.

Faith stood in the living room wearing her black leather dress and Harlow ankle boots. “C’mon B, we’re twenty minutes late! Get yer ass in gear, will ya?”

“I’m almost ready.” was the muffled reply from behind the bathroom door. Moments later it opened, and Buffy stepped into the room. Faith’s mouth dropped as she looked at Buffy. Smiling at her, Buffy slowly turned in front of Faith, “Is something wrong?” she asked coyly when she came to a stop.

“Wow, just.... wow.” Was all Faith could say.

Buffy smiled at her, “You’re not the only one that looks good in black.” She was wearing a form fitting cocktail dress that came to mid thigh. The neckline hinted at her cleavage, while the short sleeves accented her strong arms. She completed the outfit with 3 inch black heels. Her hair was down and parted on one side, the other side held off her face with a simple black barrette. “Do we look okay Dennis?” she asked. The bulb in the lamp next to the couch popped as the light was turned on. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Buffy smiled at Faith.

“Maybe we should just stay in?” Faith asked hopefully. Buffy laughed. “No, we’re dressed, and we’re going to meet Cordelia.”

Faith sighed and picked up her duster off the back of the couch. “Fine, we’ll go.” She slipped her duster on and picked up a small knapsack. “I’m ready.”

Buffy looked at her quizzically, “Why are you wearing that, and what’s in the bag?”

Faith looked at her like she’d just sprouted a third arm. “It’s L.A., I ain’t goin anywhere with out packin’ weapons. This,” she held up the knapsack, “is a change of clothes for later, if we need’em.”

“Wow,” Buffy smiled at Faith, “aren’t you little Miss Girl Scout.”

Faith shook her head and looked down, “I don’t want anythin’ happenin’ to you, okay?”

Buffy reached out and lifted Faith’s head. “Nothing will happen, I’ve got you to look after me.” She leaned forward and lightly kissed Faith. “Thank you.” She looped her arm through Faith’s, “Let’s go.”


	17. Chapter 17

The two girls walked up to the entrance to the bar. The neon ‘Carita’s’ sign fizzed over top of the door. Faith peered into the darkness that was the door and then up and down the alley. “Yer friend hangs out in real ‘nice’ places.” She took a couple of steps back and looked up the side of the building. “Is it just me, or is your slayer sense screamin’ at you to run?”

“Yup, but Cordelia said we aren’t allowed to kill anything when we’re inside.”

“W-what?” Faith sputtered. “She told you it was a demon bar?”

Buffy shrugged, “Not really, I just thought she was joking about us being slayers.”

Faith rolled her eyes at Buffy, “Did you even listen to any of the conversation? Are you sure you were talkin’ to the right girl?”

Buffy placed her hand on Faith’s arm. “We’ll be fine. We’re together, and we’re slayers, nothing to worry about.” Faith snorted, “Whatever B.” she bowed gracefully towards the blonde slayer. “After you.”

“Uh-uh, you’re the one packing.”

Faith smirked at her, “Now you know why.”

Faith raised her hand to pound on the door, as she did it slowly swung open to reveal a rather large troll. “It’s about time you made up your mind to come in. If you took any longer, I was going to drag you in.” Buffy and Faith stared at him open mouthed. “Carita’s is a mixed bar. Everyone inside is protected by magic. You couldn’t hurt anyone if you tried. You were getting all worried over nothing. Oh, and if you have any questions, my name is Olaf.” Quickly looking around, he lowered his head and quietly spoke out of the corner of his mouth. “I used to be married to Anyanka, don’t tell her I’m here, okay?” Buffy and Faith just nodded. “Thanks. The coat check is over there.” He pointed towards a small alcove, where a bored looking vampire was sitting.

She eyed the approaching slayers, “Welcome to Carita’s, I’ll take your coat for you.” She held her hand towards Faith and waited. Faith didn’t take her eyes off of her as she slid her duster off. The girl’s eyes widened as Faith appeared. They quickly flitted towards Buffy, then back to Faith. She smiled a genuine smile at Faith, “If there’s anything you need help with, just ask for me, I’m Jenna.”

“Umm, thanks.” Faith said as she stood there holding the tag for her coat and knapsack.

“Here,” Buffy said as she popped open her clutch, and held it towards Faith. “Just put it in here. See you’re not the only one that came prepared.” Faith’s face lit up as she smiled at Buffy, “Whatever B.” As the two girls headed down the stairs into the club, they heard the coat check girl muttering to herself, “That just made it worthwhile to be here.” Faith and Buffy both preened as they heard the words.

They stopped just before the bottom of the stairs and looked over the crowd trying to see Cordelia. A hush rolled through the bar as other patrons noticed them standing there. Faith slowly turned her head to Buffy and whispered, “We are so fuckin’ HOT!” A red tinge slowly started to creep up Buffy’s neck as she plastered a wan smile on her face. She could feel Faith feeding off the attention. With a gentle nudge she moved Faith down the last two steps. The noise from the crowd picked up again.

A green skinned demon slithered out of the crowd and stopped in front of them. “I must have died and gone to heaven.” His tongue slid over his bright red lips. “That’s the only reason I can think of for two angels to be here.” He smiled and extended his hand, “I’m Lorne, and I am very happy to be your host tonight.”

Faith looked at his hand, then back to him, “Right, we don’t need a, unh, ‘Host’. We’re lookin’ for a friend.”

“Oh, who would that be?”

Faith partly turned to look at Buffy, who was standing slightly behind her. “Cordelia, right?” Buffy nodded her head and Faith turned back to Lorne. “Cordelia.” she told him.

He looked at the two of them, “You must be Faith,” he looked at the brunette, “and you must be Buffy?” He peered around Faith to see all of Buffy.

“I’m going to have to have a word with Cordy,” he was smiling broadly at the two slayers, “She told me you were coming, but she didn’t say anything about breathtaking.” He turned away and started to move into the crowd. Looking back over his shoulder, he smiled again, “She’s waiting for you this way.” Buffy fell in behind Faith as they followed him through the crowd. He glided through the crowd, nodding and exchanging words with different people, vamps, and demons as he went. Buffy lightly touched Faith’s arm and whispered, “He seems to know everything in here.” Faith nodded. “Maybe he really is the host?” Buffy whispered again.

“Yeah, or the owner.” Faith whispered back.

Lorne delicately turned when he reached a booth at the back of the bar. “Here we are,” he turned to Cordelia, “You never said you were having two angels join you tonight. You should have told me, I’d have dressed better and met them at the door.”

Cordelia smiled and looked at Buffy and Faith. “I’ve never met Faith, and it’s been awhile since I’ve seen Buffy, so I didn’t know what to expect. But you’re right Lorne; they do look gorgeous don’t they?”

Faith looked at Cordelia, then to Buffy and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, right, sorry. Faith, this is Cordelia Chase, and Cordelia, this is Faith.” Cordelia extended a well manicured hand to Faith, and smiled at her. Faith was watching Cordelia’s eyes as she shook the offered hand. She could feel a warmth run up her arm as they briefly held hands. Faith saw some loneliness and curiosity in her eyes that changed to surprise. The corner of Faith’s mouth turned up in a smirk as she realised the surprise was Cordelia’s reaction to holding Faith’s hand. Cordelia blinked as she let go of Faith and moved her hand towards Buffy. Faith saw a look of surprise in both pairs of eyes as their hands touched. _‘Hmm,’_ she thought, _‘this looks like it should be really freakin’ interestin’.’_

“Petrov,” Lorne called, snapping the three girls back. He waved at a waiter making his way over. “He’ll be looking after you tonight. I look forward to hearing the two of you sing tonight.” He turned and moved away from the three of them.

Faith’s jaw dropped, “Sing?” She looked between Buffy and Cordelia, “Nobody said nothin’ about singin’!” Buffy looked at Cordelia and raised an eyebrow.

“Lorne’s an empath,” she explained. “You sing and he reads your soul. It’s kind of like fortune telling, but a lot more accurate.” Buffy and Faith were staring at Cordelia when Petrov cleared his throat. The three girls looked to him as he quietly asked for their drink order.

“Just a Jack’n Coke for me thanks.” Faith replied.

“Can I have a Cosmo please?” Buffy asked. Cordelia smirked, “Those haven’t been fashionable since ‘Sex and the City’ went off the air.” she whispered. “Oh, umm, I’m not sure then...” Cordelia broke out into a huge smile, “I’ve still got it.” Faith noticed the smile this time went all the way to Cordelia’s eyes.

Buffy started to blush, “Fine, I’ll have a Cosmo.” she huffed. She stuck her tongue out briefly at Faith who was smiling along with Cordelia. “I’ll have the white. Thank you Petrov.” He nodded and disappeared towards the bar.

Buffy slipped into the booth and moved towards Cordelia who was sitting at the back. Faith followed Buffy in and sat next to her girlfriend. There was some tension in the air as the three girls looked at each other.

Faith looked at Cordelia, “So, what should I call ya?” Cordelia raised an eyebrow in response.

“Well, I’m B, Giles is G-man, Willow is Red, so you’re going to be anything except Cordelia. You should start getting used to it now.”

“And if I say my name is Cordelia?”

“Ain’t happenin’,” Faith smirked at her. “B told me how you used to behave in high school, so I was thinkin’....” she trailed off.

“You didn’t hurt yourself did you?” Cordelia asked with mock sincerity.

Faith grinned back at her, “Nah, thinkin’ about you ain’t gonna hurt.”

Cordelia pulled back a little in surprise. _‘I think she’s flirting with me!’_ She blinked at Faith, _‘What’s surprising is I like it.’_ A small smile crept to her lips, “She’s quick, I like that.” Now Faith was surprised. Buffy quietly followed the banter between the two girls, _‘This can go two ways, they’re going to kill each other, or be the best of friends. Either way, it’s going to be a heck of a ride!’_

“As I was sayin’,” Faith continued, “I was thinkin about it and I decided you’re gonna be ‘Queen C’.” Cordelia glanced at Buffy, then looked at Faith. “Queen C,” she paused, “I can live with that. Anything else and you won’t know what hit you.”

Faith could feel the steel behind the statement. She smiled, “Fair enough. I suppose ‘Queenie’ would be pushin’ it? ”

Buffy gasped as Cordelia’s face went dark. “That was my grandmother’s dog.”

Faith smiled and nodded, “Ok, I was just checkin’, didn’t mean to offend.”

Cordelia looked down for a second, then looked up at Faith. She smiled and said, “I’m sorry, it’s not your fault, I never did like that dog.” Faith shrugged and looked to the end of the table. Petrov had returned with their drinks. They paid him and he slipped away into the club. The girls looked at each other for a second, then Buffy picked up her drink. “Here’s to building better friendships.” Faith looked at her and Cordelia said, “Your point would be what?”

“I just want the three of us to be good friends.” Buffy said. Cordelia nodded, but Faith’s eyebrows shot up. Buffy rolled her eyes, “I’m going to lose badly aren’t I?”

“Don’t stand a chance B.” Faith smiled at her girlfriend.

“You look so much better without your foot in your mouth.” Cordelia smiled sweetly at Buffy and batted her eyes at her. Buffy sighed and dropped her head. “Introducing the two of you is the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Isn’t it?”

Faith smiled and looked at Cordelia, who was returning the grin. “We don’t think so.”

The lights in the club dimmed and a spot light focussed on Lorne standing on a small stage. He raised the mike to his mouth, “Welcome to ‘Carita’s’. For those who don’t know me, I’m Lorne and I am your host here. There are a few simple rules. If it’s your first time here, you have to sing before you can leave. Otherwise, it’s an open mike. We do have a large selection of music, so don’t be afraid.” He turned and handed the mike to a small orange skinned demon, and walked off the stage.

“Thanks Lorne,” he spoke to the crowd. “To start things off, we have Agnar!” A polite round of applause went up, and some customers were giggling.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “He always goes first and sings the same song, so don’t run okay?”

“That bad?” Faith asked. The three of them cringed when he started to sing:

Feelings, nothing more than feelings,..

It sounded like nails on a chalkboard.

“Wow,” Buffy said, “He, umm, really puts a lot into it, doesn’t he?”

“That’s my girl,” Faith patted Buffy on the hand, “Always lookin’ on the bright side.”

“It does get a little tedious after an hour or so.” Cordelia reached out to pat Buffy’s other hand. As soon as she touched it all three girls felt the jolt run through them. They all pulled their hands back and stared at each other with wide eyes.

“What the fuck was that?” Faith asked. She glared at Cordelia, “What are you up to?”

Cordelia was looking at her hand, she looked at Buffy and at Faith, “I’ve never felt anything like that before!”

Faith looked at Buffy, “You think she’s a witch?” Buffy shook her head.

“No,” Cordelia spoke in a cold tone to Faith. “The Powers that Be send me these damn visions, but I have no power!”

“Calm down you two and listen.” Buffy spoke up. Both girls turned to her and waited. “I told you on the phone Cordelia, that I have a connection with Faith. I can feel her from a distance and when she touches me it’s a comfortable warm feeling.” Cordelia and Faith both nodded. “When I shook your hand tonight did you feel anything?”

“Yes.” She looked nervously at Faith.

“When I shook her hand, I felt kinda the same thing I feel when I touch you.” Faith said quietly. Cordelia’s breath hitched. Faith reached across the table and held her hand out to Cordelia. “I think what B’s tryin to say is that the three of us are connected.”

Buffy smiled, “She’s smart too.” She said to Cordelia.

“Just take my hand Queen C.” Faith was looking into Cordelia’s eyes when she asked. Cordelia was looking right back, and could see Faith was asking her to trust her. She slowly moved her hand into Faith’s. As Faith’s fingers wrapped around hers she could feel the warm pleasant glow travel up her arm.

“That’s what I felt before,” she spoke to Faith, “What does it mean?”

“I dunno,” Faith replied. “I’m gonna let go and I want you to hold B’s hand now.” Cordelia nodded and looked at Buffy who was extending her hand towards her. She steeled herself and reached out. The surprise registered on her face when they closed their hands together.

“It feels the same as when I was holding yours.” Cordelia gasped.

Buffy smiled, “It feels the same as when I touch Faith.” The blonde smiled warmly at Faith, but she was worried how the brunette was going to take it.

Faith looked at her girlfriend and Cordelia. “Just hold her hand and relax.” Faith said to Cordelia. “I’m gonna take B’s other hand and see what happens. I think the feeling we get is that much stronger when it’s the three of us.”

Buffy shrugged and looked at Cordelia. “Makes sense to me. Are you okay with this Cordy?”

She sucked in her bottom lip and looked at both slayers. “What’s the worst that could happen?” Faith laughed and Buffy smiled. “Don’t even go there.”

Faith held her hand out to Buffy. She smiled and took it gently. The three girls just looked at each other. They felt the current between them. The warmth, the joy, the peace.

“Wow,” Cordelia whispered, “I’ve never felt anything like that in my life.”

“Feels pretty good, don’t it?” Faith said. “Queen C.” Faith extended her hand to the girl. Cordy looked at it and smiled. She nervously reached for Faith’s. There was a surge when she closed her hand around Faith’s, and it settled after a second. It was stronger than before, but not uncomfortable.

“Are you having a séance or something?” Lorne asked as he slid in next to Cordelia. All three girls jumped. “Jesus,” Faith yelled. “You always sneak up on people like that?”

“Umm, no,” he replied. “But you were really wrapped up in what you were doing. What was it?”

“Just uh, just trying to read each others mind that’s all. It’s a, umm, game, yeah a game we used to play in high school, and uhh, we were showing Faith. Right?” Cordelia sputtered out. Faith and Buffy just nodded. Lorne tilted his head and looked at each of them in turn. “I don’t believe a word of it, but if you say so, I will.” He settled into the seat and put his arm behind Cordelia. “The reason I’m here is because it’s Faith’s turn to sing.”

All three girls realized the crowd was sporadically clapping for Agnar. He bowed with a smile as he handed the mike to the orange demon and left the stage. He looked at the list and spoke, “Next up is Faith! It’s her first time here, so a warm welcome please!” Faith glared at Lorne then turned to Buffy and Cordelia, “Please let me kill him now.” Lorne smiled, “You know the rules, you’ll be okay.” Buffy smiled as she touched Faith’s arm, “Break a leg sweetie.” People were starting to look around the club to find who was heading for the stage. Cordelia was smirking at Faith. “Your public is waiting.”

Faith huffed and slid out of the booth. She stood up and flipped her hair back, then headed for the stage. They watched as heads turned in the club to follow her.

“She can really work that.” Cordelia said.

“Yeah,” Buffy replied, “when she wants attention, she’s not afraid to grab it and throttle it.”

“I just think this is going to be brilliant.” was Lorne’s comment.

Faith got to the stage and took the mike from the demon. He said a few words and Faith bent over a book, quickly flipping pages. She stopped and pointed at a page, the demon looked at her quizzically. She nodded, then stepped behind the sound board with him. She started to adjust some dials and he started shaking his head. As he reached for the board she smacked his hand. He quickly pulled it back, shaking his head “No.” again.

“This is really going to be interesting.” Buffy said to her companions as they watched the drama unfold.

The demon was reaching for the dials again, when Faith yelled “Sit!” Everything in the club that was standing immediately ran for a chair. One little gnome was running in circles, “Eeep, eeep, eeep!”, then he just sat on the floor.

“Wow,” Cordelia said, “Really good crowd control.”

“She definitely is a ‘Take Charge’ kind of girl.” Buffy smiled. Lorne just watched his emcee fuming in his chair with his arms crossed. “This is going to cost me big time.” he sighed.

Faith stepped around the sound board and onto the stage. She leaned over and pushed a button on the board, then straightened up and looked out at the crowd. The opening notes of the song slashed through the crowd and they jumped as one. The volume was much higher than normal. Faith brought the mike up to her face and started to sing:

 

Say your prayers little one  
Don't forget, my son  
To include everyone  
  
Tuck you in, warm within  
Keep you free from sin  
Till the sandman he comes  
  
Sleep with one eye open  
Gripping your pillow tight

 

Cordelia stared wide eyed at Buffy, “What the hell is that?” Lorne was looking at her with a horrified expression. Buffy shrugged, “It’s Faith, so of course it’s Metallica.” The reasonable way she said it did nothing to allay the fears of Cordy and Lorne. Faith was strutting across the stage now, her head tossed back:  
Exit light  
Enter night  
Take my hand  
Off to never never land  
  
Something's wrong, shut the light  
Heavy thoughts tonight  
And they aren't of snow white  
  
Dreams of war, dreams of liars  
Dreams of dragon's fire  
And of things that will bite  
  
Sleep with one eye open  
Gripping your pillow tight  
  
Exit light  
Enter night  
Take my hand  
Off to never never land  
  
Now I lay me down to sleep  
Pray the lord my soul to keep  
If I die before I wake  
Pray the lord my soul to take  
  
Hush little baby, don't say a word  
And never mind that noise you heard  
It's just the beast under your bed,  
In your closet, in your head  
  
Exit light  
Enter night  
Grain of sand  
  
Exit light  
Enter night  
Take my hand  
We're off to never never land

 

As the last notes drifted into silence, Faith grinned at the crowd, “Thanks.” was all she said. She handed the mike back to the demon, who grabbed it and started busily readjusting his sound board. She stepped off the stage with a huge smirk plastered on her face into the silence. She took two steps and the crowd broke into applause and cheers.

“She certainly has an effect on a room doesn’t she?” Cordelia said as she was clapping. Buffy just grinned as her girlfriend approached their booth. Lorne was sitting there quietly with a pensive look on his face.

“So wadda ya think?” Faith asked as she sat down.

“Well the locals definitely don’t hear that very often.” Cordelia smiled. “I don’t think anyone dozed off while you were up there.” Faith grinned at Cordelia.

“I thought you were a little reserved the way you were bouncing around on that stage.” Buffy said with a straight face. “For the sake of the people in the front, I really hope you wore underwear.”

Faith laughed while Cordelia blinked at Buffy. Faith leaned forward and whispered in Buffy’s ear, “You’ll find out when we get back to Queen C’s.” Buffy snapped her head around to stare at Faith who sat back into the cushions smirking. “So, Lorne, now what happens?”

“Hmm?” he said, coming back to the conversation. “I’m sorry, I was thinking. It’s weird actually.”

Faith sat back up, “What’s weird?”

“Oh, nothing, nothing really. Just something I didn’t expect.”

“Are you gonna tell us or not?” Faith asked. Lorne paused for a few seconds and looked at each of the girls in turn. “No,” he said, “I’ll wait till after Buffy’s finished. I think that will make sense of it for me. Excuse me for a minute?” With a wan smile he slipped out of the booth and moved through the club.

“What was that?” Faith asked.

Cordelia shook her head, “I’ve never seen him do that before. Even if it was incredibly bad news.”

“Maybe you broke him?” Buffy said. The other two stared at her. “What, she might have! She’s not all that delicate some times!” Faith and Cordelia both broke out into grins. “I didn’t ‘break’ him.” she smiled at Buffy. “But thanks for lightening the mood.”

The emcee had his sound board back to where he wanted it, and stepped to the stage. “Now to grace our stage is another first timer, Boofy!” Cordelia and Faith burst out laughing, as Buffy turned bright red. Lorne glided by the stage pausing for a second, then headed to the back of the club. “Sorry,” the demon said, “That’s Buffy. Give a hand for Buffy!” Faith slid out of the booth to let her girlfriend out. She was still grinning from ear to ear when the smaller slayer smacked her in the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, Boofy,” Faith and Cordy were laughing, “We’ll clap for you.” She just shot them a look and stalked towards the stage. Faith slipped back into the booth and faced Cordy. “If that demon thought I was gonna kick his ass...”she looked at Cordy, “Really he has no idea what’s comin’.”

“I believe you.” Cordy smiled. Buffy had reached the stage and snatched the mike from the demon. He had his hands in front of him trying to placate the blonde as she advanced on him. She backed him up behind the sound board and made him sit, then stomped back to the selection book. She flipped the pages back and forth, then called him over. He tentatively approached her and she pointed to a song. He nodded, then quickly retreated behind the sound board. She walked out on the stage and stood there. She turned her head and nodded slightly, he hit play and the opening notes flowed through the sound system. Her foot started to tap, then she started to sing:

 

She can kill with a smile

She can wound with her eyes

She can ruin your faith with her casual lies

And she only reveals what she wants you to see

She hides like a child

But she's always a woman to me

 

Cordelia moved next to Faith and looked at her with cautious eyes. “What?” Faith asked. Cordelia sighed and looked at her, “Is she singing to you?”

Faith pulled back and looked hard at Cordelia. After a few seconds Cordelia saw Faith’s eyes soften. “I dunno,” Faith said quietly. “The way she described you, it sounds like she could be singin’ to both of us.”

“That’s what I thought.” Cordelia replied. She started to move away, but Faith covered her hand and shook her head. “You don’t have to sit over there.”

Cordelia smiled, “Thank you.” Faith pulled her hand back and they continued to watch Buffy.

 

She can lead you to love

She can take your or leave you

She can ask for the truth

But she'll never believe you

And she'll take what you give her as long as it's free

She steals like a thief

But she's always a woman to me

 

Oh--she takes care of herself

She can wait if she wants

She's ahead of her time

Oh--and she never gives out

And she never gives in

She just changes her mind

 

She will promise you more

Than the Garden of Eden

Then she'll carelessly cut you

And laugh while you're bleedin'

But she'll bring out the best

And the worst you can be

Blame it all on yourself

Cause she's always a woman to me

 

Lorne returned to the booth with drinks and sat beside Cordelia. They both looked at him because he had a concerned look on his face. He ignored them both and focused on Buffy’s song.

 

Oh--she takes care of herself

She can wait if she wants

She's ahead of her time

Oh--and she never gives out

And she never gives in

She just changes her mind

She is frequently kind

And she's suddenly cruel

She can do as she pleases

She's nobody's fool

But she can't be convicted

She's earned her degree

And the most she will do

Is throw shadows at you

But she's always a woman to me

 

The crowd clapped appreciatively when she finished. She blushed slightly and bowed quickly. Tossing the mike over her shoulder in the general direction of the emcee, she proceeded back to the booth. There was a screech of feedback as the mike bounced off the demon. He was on the verge of tears.

Buffy rolled her eyes as she got to the booth and slid in next to Faith. She stared at the three of them in turn, “One Boofy comment and I’ll beat the crap out of all of you, regardless of who said what!”

Faith had a huge grin as she draped her arm over Buffy, “Great song B. I’ve never heard it before, where’d you find it?”

Buffy looked down at the table. “My dad used to sing it to my mom when they would dance together in the kitchen. I hadn’t heard it in a long time and it was just there.”

“Cool,” Faith replied seriously, “That’s really nice B.”

“Yeah,” Cordy spoke up quietly. “That is nice. I wish I had memories like that.” Faith and Buffy both looked at her. She sighed, “It’s a long story, and we can’t afford that many drinks.” Buffy and Faith both shrugged and looked to Lorne.

“So Lorne,” Buffy asked, “Can you tell us now?” He looked at the two girls sadly, and shook his head.

“I can’t really explain it.” He looked to the stage where someone had started to sing ‘Heartbreak Hotel’. Turning back to the girls, his eyes moved between the three of them. “I have an idea, but I’m not sure.”

Cordelia’s eyebrows rose significantly. “I’ve never seen you like this before Lorne. Is something wrong?” He lightly put his hand on her arm. “No honey,” he said quietly. “It worked, but it’s what it showed me, or rather what it didn’t show me. That’s what has me perplexed.” All three girls just looked at him. A small smile flitted across his face.

“What do we need to do?” Faith asked. “Is there somethin’ we can do to help? Or is it really bad and you don’t wanna tell us?”

“No, no,” Lorne shook his head. “Even if you were going to die in the next five minutes, I’d tell you. That’s the way it works. You get it whether you want it or not.”

“So what’s the problem?” Buffy quietly said.

“I’m sorry dears,” He moved to leave. “I’m going to think about this for a few minutes. I’ll be back shortly, okay?”

The girls nodded and he left.

“This is really weird.” Cordelia reached for her drink. “I’ve seen him tell individuals the worst. But I’ve never seen him stumped like this.”

“Think it’s ‘cause we’re Slayers?” Faith asked.

“No, he told me it wouldn’t make a difference to what he saw.”


	18. Chapter 18

 

The silence stretched for a few minutes as each of the girls examined their own thoughts. “Hey, Queen C,” Faith finally spoke. “What’s it like livin’ with a ghost?”

“Not too bad.” she smiled. “He rattles around sometimes, if I upset him, but mostly he’s pretty quiet. He’ll make noise if I’ve overslept to wake me up. Did he leave you a message?” Buffy and Faith looked at her.

“No,” Buffy answered shaking her head. “How would he do that?”

“I put some of those magnetic letters on the fridge for him to move around. Usually for yes or no he flicks the light on in the living room.”

“Umm, about that,” Buffy looked down at the table, “before we left, I asked him if we looked okay. The uhh, bulb exploded.” She sheepishly looked up at Cordelia and shrugged.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow, “Really? I guess the two of you overwhelmed him. He was about 16 when he died.”

“Does he wander around the apartment or does he kinda stay in one room?” Faith asked. It was Buffy’s turn to raise an eyebrow.

“He wanders around the apartment. Why?”

Faith started to laugh as Buffy turned beet red.

“What?” Cordelia asked.

“We umm, definitely overwhelmed him then.” Buffy said as she elbowed a still laughing Faith.

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do in my apartment?”

Buffy blushed again, as Faith broke out laughing again. “We umm, took a, uhh, shower, together.”

“Oh?” Cordelia said. Then her eyebrows shot up, “OHH!” She poked Faith, “You better not have hurt my ghost.” Faith cracked up again and Cordelia started to laugh as well. Buffy just turned redder. Some patrons of the club had started to look at the group and wonder what all the laughing was about. Another demon had stepped to the stage, and was starting to sing ‘My Way’. Even Buffy had to giggle a little at the irony. Petrov appeared at the end of the table and the girls ordered another round.

“The good news, I guess,” Cordelia spoke softly, “Is someone in the apartment is getting a little action. Too bad it’s the ghost.” The girls smiled at her.

“Come on,” Faith spoke up first. “The way you look, they must be lined up around the block!”

“No,” Cordy answered with a wistful look in her eyes. “There are a lot of slimy creatures in this town, and not all of them are demons.”

“Do ya want me to scare somethin’ up for ya while I’m here?” Faith offered.

“Thanks but no,” Cordelia seemed subdued, “I’m okay where I am for now.”

“Okay, but let me know if you change your mind, ‘cause it won’t take me long!”

Cordelia smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “It’s nice to know you’ll look out for me Faith.”

“We both will Cordy.” Buffy answered.

“Well right now you can watch me go to the washroom, perverts.” Faith and Buffy shook their heads as she left the booth. They both watched her walk away. Buffy sidled up to Faith and nibbled on her ear.

“What are you thinking?”

Faith sighed, “I wanna go back to the apartment and peel your clothes off with my teeth. I also wanna know what’s goin’ on with Queen C. Somethin’ ain’t right.”

“I agree with you, what should we do?”

“Dunno,” Faith looked at her girlfriend, “She seems okay, but I don’t think she’s showin’ us all her cards.”

“You think she’s hiding something?”

“I know she’s hidin’ something, and I might know what it is.”

“What?” Buffy asked as she ran her fingers along Faith’s arm.

Faith shook her head, “She’ll tell us when she’s ready. That connection thing will let her tell us.”

“When did you become all Crypto-Girl?”

Faith looked at her girlfriend and kissed her lightly. “It’s serious, trust me on this okay?”

Buffy looked at Faith and could see the care for her and Cordelia there. “I trust you Faith. She’ll tell us when she’s ready.”

Petrov appeared at the end of the table again, and dropped off the third round. He was shortly followed by Lorne. “Where’s Cordy?” he looked around.

“Little girl’s room,” Faith answered “Why?”

“Hmm? Oh, right.” Lorne seemed distracted. “I’ll wait till she gets back.” He just stood at the end of the table and fidgeted.

“Is everythin’ okay?” Faith asked. You’re startin’ to make me nervous.”

“Oh,” he replied, “I’m sorry; this is hard for me as well.”

Cordelia arrived back at the booth and put her hand on Lorne’s arm. “Are you okay?”

He smiled warmly at her. “Just a little confused is all. Now that you’re back, we can talk about it.” He ushered Cordelia into the booth and followed her. He clasped his hands together on the table and looked at them. “I think I’ve figured out what it is, but I need you to sing again.” Buffy and Faith groaned, and he held up his hand to stop the protests. “Please let me finish. I need the three of you to sing, together.”

“Why?” Cordelia asked for the three of them. They all waited expectantly for him to answer.

He shrugged, “I’ll know if I was right when you sing. Either way, I’ll explain it when you’re done. That’s a promise, Okay?”

The girls looked at each other and nodded.

“Ain’t like we got much of a choice, is it?” Faith stared hard at the empath.

“I know and I’m sorry, but I will explain. I promise.”

Faith eyed him up with a steely glare. Cordelia put her hand on Faith’s arm, “If I trust anyone to keep his word it’s Lorne.”

“That’s good enough for me.” Buffy spoke up. Faith nodded without taking her eyes off Lorne.

“She can be pretty scary, can’t she?” he asked Buffy.

The blond beamed, “That’s my girl!”

“You’ll be up after the next song, and thank you for doing this. I’ll see you afterwards.” He bowed as he stood from the table then drifted off into the club.

“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Buffy asked Cordelia. She just shook her head with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

“We have a bigger problem.” Faith said in a very serious tone. Cordelia and Buffy both looked around the room for danger.

“What?” Buffy asked.

Faith was very still, “What’re we gonna sing?”

Buffy and Cordelia each hit her in a shoulder as she broke out in a grin. “Well it’s important! I ain’t singin’ no namby-pamby crap.”

“What do you call namby-pamby crap?” Cordelia asked.

“Britney Spears, and that shit. You know,” Faith used her fingers to quote, “that ‘pop’ crap.”

“Well we’re not singing the stuff you were thrashing around on stage to.” Buffy added her two cents.

Faith smiled, “That’s fair. I saw a song when I was up there that could be a lotta fun. It’s an old up tempo blues number. It’s called ‘Hey Bartender’.”

“Blues?” Cordelia and Buffy answered together. “You can’t expect us to sing blues!” Buffy yelped. “I’m not old enough to sing the Blues.”

“You’ve been through enough though.” Cordelia was smiling at her.

“That’s true,” Buffy sighed, “Doesn’t mean I want to sing them.”

“Look,” Faith interrupted, “We’ll go up, listen to the music and look at the words. If we can do it, we will, if not, we pick somethin’ else. Okay?”

“What about the DJ?” Cordelia asked.

Faith laughed, “When he sees me and B headin’ that way, he won’t get out of his chair.”

Cordelia and Buffy chuckled at Faith. “I knew I brought you two along for a reason.” Cordelia laughed.

“Somebody’s got to keep those guys inline. We don’t want’em running amok.” Faith answered back.

“Did Giles teach you that word?” Cordelia smiled.

“Nah,” Faith replied as she started to shuffle Buffy out of the booth. “Got it off a beer coaster.”

The three girls were smiling as they walked towards the stage. There was a smattering of applause as a vampire finished singing ‘Knock on Wood’. The emcee took the mike back from the vamp and looked at the approaching women. He sighed as he looked at the paper in his hand. “A round of applause for Buffy, Faith, and Cordelia.” He made a beeline right for his chair. Faith flipped through the book until she found the song. She pointed it out to the emcee and told him they wanted to listen to it first. Cordelia and Buffy each took a turn with the headset to hear the tune, while they watched the words scroll by. After a minute or so, Faith looked at each of them. “So, wadda ya think?”

Cordelia looked at Buffy, “I don’t understand some of the lyrics.”

“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, “They seem inappropriate.”

Faith nodded. “That’s cause when the song was written, those words had different meanings. He’s talkin’ about playin’ a horn.”

“When did you get so smart?” Buffy put her hand on Faith’s arm and smiled. Faith leaned forward and gave her a light kiss. “Blues, baby, is the daddy of Rock and Roll.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and faked gagging. “Anymore sweetness and I’ll be in a diabetic coma. Can we get on with this?”

Buffy gave her a light push. “Yes, Queen C, we’ll get a move on.”

“Okay, if you ain’t comfortable, we can sing somethin’ else.” Faith said as she started flipping through the book again.

“Hey,” Cordelia put her hand out to stop Faith on a page. “What about this one? I’ve always liked it.”

Buffy and Faith looked at the song she indicated. “I’m okay with it.” Faith looked at her. Buffy nodded, “Me too.”

Faith looked at the DJ who was pouting in his chair. She shrugged and set up the sound board. She handed a mike to the other girls and picked one up for herself. “Let’s go.”

They moved onto the stage, Faith pushed play and the song started:

I have climbed highest mountain  
I have run through the fields  
Only to be with you  
Only to be with you  
  
I have run   
I have crawled  
I have scaled these city walls  
These city walls  
Only to be with you  
  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
  
I have kissed honey lips  
Felt the healing in her fingertips  
It burned like fire  
This burning desire  
  
I have spoke with the tongue of angels  
I have held the hand of a devil  
It was warm in the night  
I was cold as a stone  
  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
  
I believe in the kingdom come  
Then all the colors will bleed into one  
Bleed into one  
Well yes I'm still running  
  
You broke the bonds and you  
Loosed the chains  
Carried the cross  
Of my shame  
Of my shame  
You know I believed it  
  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for  
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for...  


Lorne was standing at the bar when the girls started to sing. His head snapped around to stare at them for a few seconds before he put his head in his hands and started to stagger. Petrov grabbed him and held him up. “What’s wrong boss?” he worriedly looked to the stage. Lorne hung onto his arm and leaned into him. “Help me to my office please. I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?” Petrov asked nervously, “Should I get’em to stop?”

“No, no,” Lorne wheezed, “I’m alright. I just need to lie down.”

“Whatever you say boss.” He started to guide him to the office. Lorne stopped him when they got into the quiet of the hallway. “Tell the girls, I’m tied up. Don’t worry them, okay? I just need to rest a bit. Comp them on everything, food, drinks, whatever. Just don’t upset them.”

“I’ll do that.” Petrov was helping him towards the office again. “Just get better okay?” Lorne nodded. When they got to the office, he collapsed on the couch. “Hand me some water, please.” Petrov pulled a bottle out of the mini fridge and handed it to him. “Now go,” he said, “and don’t upset them. I’ll be out shortly.” Petrov nodded and closed the door quietly behind him.

He returned to the bar as the girls were finishing the song. He got another round of drinks for them and headed for the booth. He got there just after they settled into the seats with Faith between Buffy and Cordelia.

“We didn’t order another round, did we?” Buffy asked.

“Nope.” Faith piped up, while Cordy just shook her head.

“Compliments of Lorne.” Petrov said as he placed the drinks on the table. Holding the tray in front of him like a shield, he continued. “Lorne’s busy at the moment, he’ll get to you as soon as he can. Meanwhile, he’s asked me to tell you that your tab is complimentary for the night.” He smiled weakly at the girls. “Will there be anything else?”

Cordelia said “Not now thanks.”

“Damn!” Faith exclaimed, “We musta been great.” She threw an arm around each of the other girls. “Maybe we should go pro?”

The two girls smiled and leaned into Faith. “Despite the free drinks, I don’t think we should give up our day jobs.” Cordelia retorted.

“I’m with her.” Buffy smiled at the two of them. She looked between the two smiling girls. _‘They seem to be getting pretty cosy with each other.’_ she thought. _‘I like it, and I never thought I’d ever want to get this close to Cordy. Huh, it really is an interesting night.”_

“Hey B,” Faith nudged her as she moved to pick up her drink. “You were driftin’ there, where’d you go?”

“Just lost in thought. So what do we toast this time?” she asked.

“To the three of us.” Cordelia raised her glass.

“I can do that.” Faith raised hers.

“Sounds good to me too.” Buffy chipped in. The three raised their glasses and toasted each other. The conversation flowed freely after that. They talked about Sunnydale, made fun of Xander, and clapped occasionally for a decent singer. Their favourite so far was the demon that did ‘Only the Lonely’. “Not us!” Faith had yelled. The three seemed to enjoy touching each other while they talked. Just casual contact, touching a hand or an arm, occasionally leaning into one another. Faith had gone to the washroom and when she came back, she slid in next to Cordelia, who moved next to Buffy. Faith smiled at her girlfriend, “Her turn for the middle,” she lowered her voice, “We’re sharing.” Then she exaggerated a large wink. Buffy and Cordelia both broke out in a fit of giggles.

“She’s so subtle,” Cordelia said, “Do you have trouble understanding her meaning?” another round of giggles broke out. Faith saw Cordelia look toward the door of the club and freeze. It was only a moment, but the smile fell and she could see fear in her eyes. Faith glanced at the door, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. By the time she looked back, the smile was there, but there was a subdued look in her eyes.

Faith put her hand over Cordelia’s and leaned into her. “You’re safe here Cordelia.” she whispered. Buffy raised an eyebrow to Faith, who shook her head slightly.

_‘Something’s up,’_ Buffy thought, _‘It concerns Cordy, I could feel the change in her mood, but I don’t sense any danger.’_ Buffy took a quick look around the club to check. _‘It scares her, but it’s not obvious. Faith was right.’_ She reached out and covered Cordelia’s other hand. “You are very safe here Cordy.”

Cordelia looked at both girls, then lowered her head. In a soft voice she said, “Thank you, it means a lot.”

“That’s what friends are for.” Faith assured her with a gentle squeeze of her hand.

“Okay,” Cordelia squared her shoulders, “enough of the diabetic moments, let’s have some fun.” The conversation picked up again, and they were having as much fun as before. Faith and Buffy could see Cordelia’s eyes flit to another part of the club occasionally. They kept checking but didn’t see anything wrong.

Buffy was talking to Cordy about Snyder, and Faith let her eyes drift to where Cordelia would look. _‘It ain’t somethin’; it’s someone, who’s upset her. I ain’t seen anybody out there throwin’ looks our way, but I’ll find the creep.’_ She turned back just in time to smile at the punch line of the story. As they relaxed into a comfortable silence Lorne appeared at the end of the table.

He gave a slight bow, “Please accept my humble apologies. I was detained briefly and you now have my full attention. He smiled and slid into the booth.

“You alright?” Faith asked.

“Perfectly fine,” was the response, “Why?”

“’Cause you look pale, even for a green guy. Are you one of those chameleons?”

Buffy and Cordelia tried to hide their laughter, but were doing a poor job.

Lorne smiled at Faith, “No, I’m not. I am not changing colours.”

“Okay.” Faith shrugged. “So what’s the deal, are you gonna explain things now?”

“That’s why I’m here.” He took a sip of his Sea Breeze, and settled himself. “Where to start.” He tapped his lips with his finger for a second. “Okay,” he placed his hands in front of him and cocked his head. “Cordelia, do you remember when you sang for me?”

She furrowed her brow, “Is this a test? Because it was a while ago.”

He smiled, “I know, that’s why I’m asking. When I talked to you afterwards, I told you what I saw, but I couldn’t see all of it. Do you remember?”

“Yes, now I remember,” she nodded, “You said it’s like a piece of it was missing. Like I just didn’t exist after that.” Buffy’s and Faith’s eyes widened at that comment.

“You didn’t exist?” Buffy queried.

“No,” Cordelia answered, “He couldn’t see past a point in my life. He didn’t see my death, it just stopped.” She laughed a little. “Angel wouldn’t let me go anywhere for a week after that. Do YOU know how hard it is to go to the bathroom with Wesley and Gunn standing outside the stall?” The two slayers cracked up laughing. Buffy had tears streaming down her face. After they settled down, Lorne continued.

“My problem was I’d never had anything like that happen before, or since.” He took another drink. Placing it back on the coaster, he adjusted it so it was centered. “That is, until tonight.”

All three girls stared at him. Faith’s eyes were narrowing, and Buffy was starting to tense. Cordelia reached out slowly and placed a hand on each of the slayers. “Hold up girls, he can’t tell us anything if he’s dead.”

Buffy looked at her, “You pick now to do the voice of reason thing?” Faith and Cordy smiled. Buffy turned to Lorne “Continue.”

He ran a nervous hand through his hair, then fidgeted a little. “Well, when Faith started to sing, the same thing happened. You can understand my predicament, I thought I was losing my touch. That’s why I was so flustered when she sat down.” He quickly glanced around the club to see if anyone was listening. “If word got out, I’d be out of business in no time.” He sat back in the booth and sighed. “So I had two people, friends, whom I couldn’t read. So I thought I’d read Buffy then figure out what was with Faith.” The girls nodded in unison. They were trying to figure out what was going on. He’d been talking for several minutes but hadn’t really said anything. “Try to imagine my surprise when Buffy starts to sing, and the same thing happens. Now its three friends I can’t read!” He grabbed his drink and finished it. He waved Petrov over and ordered another one. “Girls?” he asked. Buffy and Faith ordered another one, but Cordelia passed. “I don’t have slayer metabolism to work it off.”

After Petrov left, Lorne started up again. “That’s why I left. I thought I’d lost it. All I could see was an empty club full of cobwebs and me talking to myself in the corner.”

Faith leaned into Cordelia and whispered, “He’s quite the drama queen ain’t he.” She smacked Faith in the shoulder. “This is serious!” she whispered back.

Lorne kept on talking. “I went back to the office and thought about it and that’s when I decided to see what happens when the three of you sang.” At this point he beamed at the three girls.

“And?” Faith queried. The other two were leaning forward, looking at Lorne.

“I could see! All of it! It was wonderful! I was so happy!” He was waving his hands around in celebration. Buffy grabbed an arm and pulled it down.

“Try to imagine how thrilled I am for you. What about us?”

Lorne blinked, “Right, I’m sorry. Where are my manners?” He settled back down in the seat and picked up his drink. He quickly put the empty glass down, and looked at the crowd, “Where’s Petrov?” he mumbled. The girls stared at him for a second.

“It’s good those things come with a straw,” Faith spoke quietly, “You should keep it. You’ll be able to use it for meals in a minute.” Lorne’s eyes widened rapidly as the words of the dark slayer sank in.

“No trouble, no trouble at all.” he squeaked. He cleared his throat, “As I was saying, I could see it all. It was incredibly powerful, and overwhelming. When you started to sing, it was this, huge powerful wall of energy. It felt like a truck. Petrov had to help me to the office and I had to lie down.” He looked down and gently shook his head.

“Was it that bad?” Buffy asked quietly, looking to Cordelia, then to Faith.

He looked up and smiled at the three girls, “Gads no! It kicked me, but I’ve never felt that much peace or love in my life!” Petrov arrived at the table again, dropped off the drinks with a smile at Lorne and left.

Cordelia smiled nervously, “What did you see?”

“A lot, really, I had trouble making most of it out. It just came too fast. What I did see, was the three of you together for a long time. You were all very old and happy together. There seemed to be children, but I couldn’t tell whose they were. They did seem to belong to you though. There was a male presence, but it was in the background. It seemed to be a positive influence, but didn’t play a major role. There were a couple of dark spots. One of them is actually fairly close.” His brow was furrowed and he had a very worried look on his face. The girls had almost stopped breathing while they waited. He looked up and a small smile came to his face. “Sorry, I was trying to see more. I can’t tell who, but one of you will be in danger. Two are close, one is far. But the three of you come through it closer than you were before. After that it seems fairly smooth for several years.” He stopped, and picked up his drink. “Here’s to a terrific life, well three terrific lives. It seems the three of you are destined to be together for a long time.”

“That’s it?” Faith asked. “You saw us together after a long time? Are we just friends or what?”

Lorne looked at her with a sad smile. “My dear Faith, I saw what I saw, and I told you. I can’t tell you all the details, like I said, it was just too much. What I can clarify is this. When the three of you sang individually, parts of your soul were missing. When you sang together, I could read you as one. It isn’t easy in this life for one to find their soul mate. It is impossible to find two, and beyond that to find them at the same time!” He watched the girls as his words sunk in. As their expressions changed with comprehension, a satisfied grin crept across his face. “I have a question.” he said slowly. “Because of the force of what I saw, the three of you wouldn’t happen to be virgins would you?”

Faith broke out in hysterics, Buffy blushed and Cordelia just looked down at the table.

“Not for a long, long, time!” Faith gasped out. A bright red Buffy just shook her head no. Lorne looked at Cordelia and waited.

Cordelia just stared at the table. Faith quieted down and looked quizzically at Buffy then to Cordelia. “Cordy?” Lorne asked.

A small frightened voice exited Cordelia, “Do demons count?”

Faith put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter, While Buffy stared in shock.

“Cordy,” Buffy had started to smile, “I didn’t know you swung that way.”

“It wasn’t my choice!” a furious Cordelia turned on the blonde.

Buffy and Faith both stopped laughing, and looked at Cordelia. Faith’s head slowly turned to where Cordelia had been looking all night. “Its here.” she said in a low voice. She turned to face Cordelia. “Which one?”

Lorne’s and Buffy’s eyes followed Faith’s but couldn’t see what she was talking about.

“You don’t understand!” Cordelia snapped at Faith.

“I do Cordelia. Perfectly.” Faith’s tone was flat and emotionless. She reached out and took the ex-cheerleaders hand in both of her own. She waited until Cordelia’s eyes met hers. “I know exactly what you’re goin’ through. I need you to tell me which one it is. Then you won’t have to worry about it ever again.”

Cordelia could feel Faith’s strength holding her up. She looked into Faith’s eyes and saw the understanding and caring. Buffy and Lorne looked between the two, but didn’t interrupt. Faith watched the indecision in Cordelia’s eyes.

“He’ll never hurt anyone again.” Faith said very quietly.

 Cordelia sighed, and looked down at the table. When she looked back up to Faith, there was pain in her eyes. In a small voice she said, “He said if I told someone, he would kill them while I watched, then he would kill me.” Buffy looked a little confused for a moment. Her eyes widened as comprehension set in.

Faith smiled gently, “He doesn’t know you have friends like us.” She pointed to herself and Buffy. “He knows you can’t go to the cops, so it’s up to us to look after it. He will hurt someone else Cordy. We have to stop him.”

Lorne started to speak, but Buffy put a hand out to stop him. The most important thing in the world was the tenuous connection between Faith and Cordy.

“I d-don’t know.” Cordy whispered. Faith brought Cordelia’s hand to her mouth and gently kissed the back of it.

“Did you hear what Lorne said earlier?” Faith asked. Cordelia nodded. “The three of us are soul mates. That means we love each other and protect each other. We’re there in good times and bad. We support each other. We’re here for you Cordelia, I can help you get through this, but I can also stop it from happenin’ to anyone else. It’s my job.” Cordelia nodded slowly, still looking at the table. Faith peeked at Buffy, who nodded and smiled her agreement with Faith. A look of relief passed through Faith’s eyes. _‘This is really fuckin’ weird. But I gotta get her to trust me. B agrees with what I’ve said so far, so I’m on the right track. C’mon Queen C, do what’s right.’_ she thought to herself.

“He grabbed me,” Cordelia said quietly. Faith and Buffy only heard her because of their slayer hearing. “I said no, and I fought back, but he just laughed. He said I didn’t mean it when I said no. He likes it when they struggle. Don’t let him hurt anyone else Faith.” Tears were running down Buffy and Faith’s cheeks. Faith pulled both of Cordelia’s hands to her and kissed them gently. She cleared her throat as she looked into Cordelia’s eyes.

“I promise.” Faith looked at Buffy, then back to Cordelia. “Buffy agrees with me, nobody or nothin’ hurts our girl and gets away with it.”

“She’s right Cordy, we’re going to look after you. You’re safe with us. You won’t be going through it alone.” Buffy added in a whisper. Cordelia looked to each of the slayers.

“Thanks,” she smiled weakly, “I do feel safer with you here.”

“What’s going...” Lorne started to ask, but Buffy just shushed him into silence.

“Cordelia,” Faith spoke, “All you have to do is tell me which one.”

Cordelia looked into the crowd, then back to Faith. She looked into Cordelia’s eyes while they waited for her to speak. A flicker of resolve appeared in her eyes, then it started to grow, and anger appeared around the edges. “He’s over there,” she indicated with her head. “The Vahrall demon...”

“The dream!” Buffy yelped.

“What dream?” Faith’s eyes furrowed and Cordelia looked down at the table again.

“The dream I had about Cordelia last week involved Vahrall demons. Is that when it happened?”

Cordelia shook her head no.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Buffy reached out and put her arm around Cordelia. “You should have told me.”

Cordelia looked at Buffy with tears in her eyes, “I couldn’t, and I believed what he told me. I couldn’t put you in danger like that.”

Buffy leaned forward and kissed the tears away. “I understand Cordy, I’m not mad at you. We’re here to help you now. You have to remember you’re not alone. You have the two of us, and like Faith said, nobody hurts our girl.”

Cordelia smiled weakly at the two slayers. “I believe you both. He’s the one in the green shirt with the orange tie and black pants.”

Faith dropped Cordelia’s hands and slid out of the Booth. She had taken two steps, “Faith!” Buffy yelled loudly. A number of patrons looked in their direction. Faith had come to a dead stop. Her knuckles were white peaks on the edge of her balled fists. Buffy could see the muscles in her back and legs twitching in fury, the veins in her neck pulsing with anger. Patrons of the bar could feel the rage coming off the slayer. Watching her they slowly started to back away. “Wait for me.” she said as she pushed Lorne out onto the floor. Standing up she grabbed him with one hand and tossed him back onto the seat. She put her finger in his face, “You stay with her until I say so.” He just nodded mutely at the anger in her voice and slid next to Cordelia. “I’ll be right here.” he squeaked. Buffy turned and stood next to Faith. “We can’t kill him in here, we have to get him outside.”

Faith slowly turned to look at her girlfriend. The rage already starting to dissipate. “Tease him?” she spoke quietly, “Get him so excited he can’t think straight, then tell him who we are and what’s goin’ ta happen? Then we’ll meet him outside.”

“And you said you couldn’t do plans.” Buffy smiled at her. “Your knapsack?”

A wide smile crossed Faith’s face. “Change of clothes for both of us, and Mr. Pointy.”

It was Buffy’s turn to smile. “You do care about me.”

“I care about both of you.” Faith said and turned to where the demon was sitting. Buffy was staring at the side of her head. _‘I think she’s talking about me and Cordelia. I don’t know what I did to deserve the two of them, but it makes me very happy.’_ Buffy thought.

“Business?” Faith said quietly.

Buffy touched her arm and smiled, “Let’s go knock’em dead.”

Faith groaned. “I don’t know why I bother.” She said with a sigh. The two girls started to move through the crowd. They slowly headed to the table where the demon was sitting.

“There’s four of ‘em.” Faith said quietly. “I’ll sit next to him and you stand beside him. That’ll isolate him from his friends.”

Buffy nodded, “We’ll tell them they can fuck off if they want to live.” Faith’s eyebrows shot up.

“B!” she smiled, “I am wearin’ off on you.”

“You wish.”

The girls slowed as they approached the table. They had attracted some appreciative glances as they walked through the club, including the Vahrall demon they were aiming for. As Faith walked behind him, she dragged her hand across his shoulders. “We’d like to talk to you, if ya don’t mind?” She’d dropped her voice into a slow smoky drawl. The demon had craned his neck to watch her as she passed behind him. His head snapped around as Buffy leaned on his shoulder and bent down. His eyes widened and he grinned at the suggestive view of her cleavage.

“We’ve been looking for someone to play with.” Buffy smiled as she whispered in his ear. Faith sitting in the chair next to him had draped an arm around his shoulders and covered his left arm with hers. She leaned towards him, “We need someone that can look after both of us.” The Demon was grinning from ear to ear now and chuckling at his friends. They were staring at him like he was a god. Two of the hottest women in the club were hanging all over him, and he hadn’t moved. He looked at Buffy, then to Faith, his sharp teeth glinting in the lights of the club.

“You’ve certainly come to the right guy.”

“We’re not sure yet,” Buffy licked her lips slowly, “See sometimes, we like to play a little rough.”

“Yeah,” Faith spoke up, “We like a little pain.”

The demon’s friends were rolling their eyes and shaking their heads. He laughed at them, “See, you show them who is boss and they come running.”

Buffy was running her hand up the back of his neck, towards the top of his head. “Our friend over there said you liked it like that, and we wondered if you could handle us both?” His friends were watching in amazement as the scene played out in front of them. The demon leaned forward a little to see around Buffy, “Which friend?”

Buffy turned a little, so she was standing beside him, and gave a small nod to Faith. “The one in the booth at the back, next to Lorne.”

He stared through the crowd for a second, “Ah,” he said leaning back. “I remember her, yes she did scream a lot.” He was absolutely beaming, his sexual prowess was on display for all his friends to see, it was such a great day... Buffy’s hand at the top of his head grabbed a handful of skin, pulled his head back and then slammed it into the table. Faith pinned his arm to the table with one hand, and pulled his wrist back to the breaking point.

“See,” Faith’s voice was dripping icicles, “That’s the problem, she was screamin’ ‘NO’. That didn’t seem to bother ya.”

“It does however,” Buffy spoke harshly, “Bother us. And we’re going to do something about it.”

Faith looked at the other demons at the table who had backed away and were trying to figure out what was going on. “Your ‘friend’ raped a friend of ours.” she spit out the words at them. “If you don’t want to die, you won’t interfere.” The demons looked between the three still at the table.

“Where are my manners?” Buffy said sarcastically. She pulled the demons head off the table where she had it pinned. She grabbed his jaw and squeezed hard. The pain was bringing tears to his eyes. She pulled his head around and up, so she could look him in the eyes. His neck cracked as she twisted it. “I’m Buffy,” she pushed his jaw down and around, banging his head off the table on the way by, so he was staring at Faith. “And that’s Faith.” With a quick tug she snapped his head back up, then slammed it back onto the table. He grunted with the pain. “We. Are. The. Slayers.” She looked at the demon’s three friends, “Any questions?” There was a collective intake of breath from the entire bar. Patrons who had been watching what was going on started to quickly get out of the way. Buffy bashed his head onto the table again. Faith stood while still holding his arm and wrist; he was sweating from the pain. “Lorne said we can’t kill you in here. We’ll be waitin’ outside.” With a quick push, the sound of his wrist snapping echoed through the bar.

The two girls headed up the stair to the coat check. “Knapsack and duster.” ordered Faith.

The girl looked at her nervously, “Do you have your tag?” she squeaked out. Faith glared at her. “Right, I remember.” She handed them both over to Faith. There was a washroom across the hall and the two girls ran in to change.

In the bar, the Vahrall demon was looking at his broken wrist, trying to deal with his pounding headache. His three friends were standing there quietly staring at him. “The four of us should beat them handily.” he muttered. The three demons looked back and forth between themselves. “Maybe, but not tonight.” one spoke up.

The demon stared at the three. “What are you talking about?”

The one that had spoken sighed. “We don’t approve of it at the best of times, because it draws unwanted attention. You raped a friend of the slayers. We’re not going to help with this, you’re on your own.” The three demons turned and headed towards the bar. He looked around and others were backing away like he had leprosy.

“Umm, Garnak?” It was one of his friends. “Umm, that two hundred you owe me?” He nodded. “I’ll uh, take a, uh, cheque?”

The two slayers stepped out of the washroom. “I knew you weren’t wearing any underwear!” Buffy hissed at Faith. She smiled at her, “Sorry to ruin the surprise B. I know you were lookin’ forward to unwrappin’ it yourself.”

Buffy sighed, “That’s not the point Faith. Although that’s one less thing I have to look forward to.” Faith smiled at her and leaned in for a quick kiss.

“Jenna,” Faith said as she tossed her knapsack back to the girl in the coat check. “Did a green guy go by here in a rush? He mighta been holdin’ his wrist.” Jenna just stared at the slayers and shook her head. Faith turned to Buffy, “We can wait outside or we can go get him?”

Buffy thought for a second, “Cordy is still downstairs, let’s go get him.”

“Hold it right there.” Olaf commanded from the door. “You can’t go down there like that. The magic will stop you.”

“But...” Buffy started to speak. Olaf held up his hand to stop her.

“You two wait outside; stand in the alley, one on each side. He will be out shortly. I know what’s going on.” His face broke out into a huge grin. “There are days when I just love my job.” He headed down the stairs into the club. The two Slayers looked at each other and shrugged. They turned and exited the club into the alley.

“Which side ya want B?” Faith asked as they stepped out into the night.

“This sides okay.” She stopped and faced Faith. They instinctively looked around the alley. They could see the street lights at either end glinting dirtily off the garbage bins. A light breeze stirred some papers along the way. Their eyes checked the dirty brick wall across from them and gazed up the fire escapes to check for something lurking in the shadows.

“Wadda ya think he meant when he said that Vahrall demon would be out in a moment?” Faith asked. Her eyes were still checking the alley.

“I guess he’s going to make him leave.” Buffy shrugged her shoulders as she spoke. Faith nodded and the two of them stood there.

They jumped apart when they heard a huge thump on the big door from inside the club. Little bits of dust and grime slowly floated down from the door. The two slayers backed off of the pathway to the door. They stared at it for a second, then flinched with the thump it made a second time. The door slowly opened spilling its light into the alley. They blinked to adjust their eyes and saw Olaf standing back from the door holding the limp Vahrall demon by his shirt and pants. He still had the huge grin on his face. “One of these days, I’m gonna remember to open the door first.” He pulled his arms back and stepped back at the same time. With a mighty heave, the Vahrall demon came flying out the door, and smacked into the wall across the alley from the club. Buffy and Faith watched in amazement as he flew past them. They turned to Olaf with their mouths open. “I usually hit higher up the wall than that. Have fun and I’ll see you when you get back.” He pulled back into the club and the door closed behind him.

The two Slayers looked at the crumpled form of the demon. “Now what?” Faith asked.

“Wake him up, I guess.” They cautiously approached the crumpled form of the demon. He came up off the ground with a growl and clubbed Buffy on the side of the head with his good arm.

“OOF” she grunted as she landed on her ass. The demon sprinted down the alley past the sprawled slayer.

“You alright?” Faith started towards Buffy.

“I’m ok, go!” Buffy yelled and Faith took off after the demon. Buffy leapt to her feet. _‘Why do they always have to go for my face?’_ she thought as she took off after Faith.

The demon ran part way down the alley then jumped up and grabbed onto a fire escape. He hauled himself over the railing and started to climb. Faith chasing him, leapt to the top of a dumpster then jumped to the fire escape. She bent down and pulled the pin to drop the ladder for Buffy. She turned and followed the demon up the building. The demon looked down to see Faith gaining on him, and she felt the ironwork rattle when Buffy started to climb. Faith grinned up at the demon, _‘I’m so gonna kick his ass, for Queen C and for B!’_ she thought. The demon disappeared over the parapet of the building. Faith ducked as she got to the top and the demons fist missed the top of her head. She jumped onto the roof, but the demon wasn’t hanging around. He was already sprinting towards the far side. Faith couldn’t see anywhere for him to go, so she started to jog in the same direction. Faith’s eyebrows shot up as the demon stepped to the parapet and leapt off the building at a full run. He cleared the distance between the buildings and landed in a heap on the far side. Buffy got to the roof as Faith started to sprint. Her eyes widened as she realized what Faith was doing.

“Oh god no!” she whispered as she watched.

The demon pushed himself to his knees on the opposite roof. He knew the slayers wouldn’t be able to jump that far. All he had to do now was get back to the ground on the far side and disappear into the night. He got to his feet and turned to laugh at the slayers. To let them know he had beaten them. The only thing he saw when he turned was a ladies issue, size 9, steel shank, combat boot, connect with his chest. Faith smiled as she heard the ‘pop’ of cartilage, and the snap of ribs breaking as her foot drove him back to the roof. She somersaulted off his chest and landed on her feet. She wheeled around and looked at the demon wheezing and gasping for breath on his back. Buffy had reached the edge of the other building and was staring at Faith.

“You ok B?” Faith called, still watching the demon.

Buffy sighed in relief. “Yeah, you?” she called back.

“Five by five.” Faith looked up and smiled at her. “You want me to wait for ya?” Buffy looked across the gap and to where the fire escapes were.

“No, give him my ‘love’,” she said sarcastically, “and I’ll meet you at the entrance to the club.” Faith raised her foot and stood on the demons cracked ribs. He screamed in agony.

“That enough ‘love’ for ya B?” Faith smiled.

“Pretty good, but I think he needs a little more.” Buffy turned and started to walk back to the fire escape she had come up on. She smiled as she heard another long scream from the demon followed by a loud, sharp, crack.

Buffy leaned against the wall as she waited for Faith. She stepped out of the shadows as she felt her girlfriend turn into the alley. Faith was striding down the alley, her open duster swirling about her feet. She looked like she was floating. Backlit by the lights from the street, she seemed to be wrapped in a halo. Buffy smiled as Faith approached. “Do you know how hot you look when you walk like that?” she said as she slid her arms inside the duster and wrapped her girlfriend in a hug.

“No, you’ll have to tell me sometime.” Faith leaned down and kissed Buffy, pulling her in tightly. After a few moments she broke the kiss and leaned back. “How’s your head?” she asked quietly.

Buffy smiled up at her, “Its okay. He just caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

“I’m sorry, I shoulda...” Buffy put her finger on Faith’s lips to quiet her.

“It’s ok, it’s not your fault. We were both surprised.” She kissed Faith gently again. “C’mon.” she let go of Faith with one arm and they started to walk towards the entrance of the club with an arm around each other.

“Where did you learn to jump like that?” Buffy asked quietly.

“My sensei used to make me jump stalls in the local Wal-mart as part of my trainin’. I can jump further than that, but he was as far as I needed to go.”

“Did you see the look on his face?” Buffy smiled at her.

Faith grinned. “He was definitely not expectin’ my boot.” They reached the door of the club and knocked. It swung open and Olaf smiled at them. He looked around them into the alley, then back to the girls.

“That took longer than I thought.”

Faith shrugged, “He wasn’t quite out yet, so we had to chase him down.”

“Oh!” Olaf looked at them in surprise, “I apologize. I should’ve taken longer to open the door.”

“Not a problem,” Faith said. “We appreciate your help.” She held out a hand and Olaf shook it. Buffy extended hers as well.

“Thank you Olaf.”

“My pleasure.” He closed the door behind the slayers and pointed towards the coat check. The girls smiled and approached Jenna. Buffy shook her head as Faith slid her duster off revealing the black tank top and tight leather pants. “We’ve still got our tag.” she smiled. Buffy handed Jenna her jacket as well. “Just put them on the same hangar.” Jenna hardly noticed Buffy standing beside Faith. Her eyes didn’t leave Faith as she nodded her head. Buffy grabbed Faith’s arm and pulled her towards the stairs. “Come on before you break her.”

“I didn’t do nothin’!” Faith whined.

Buffy smiled at her, “I didn’t say you did.” When the two slayers reached the bottom of the stairs, the patrons at the bottom moved out of their way, then folded back in behind them as they passed. They walked in a bubble of space to the booth in the back. Cordelia and Lorne were talking earnestly and didn’t notice them as they approached. Faith cleared her throat and they looked up at the interruption. A huge smile of relief broke out on Cordelia’s face, and she scrambled to get out of the booth.

She pulled both girls into a hug, “I’m so happy you’re back.” Faith and Buffy wrapped their arms around Cordelia and each other. Faith let go of Cordelia and put her finger under her chin and raised her face.

She looked into her eyes, “You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about Queen C. We’re ok, and we took care of business.” She leaned forward and kissed Cordelia gently, then turned and kissed Buffy. She pulled back and looked at Buffy with a raised eyebrow. Buffy laughed, then turned and kissed Cordelia.

Cordelia had a stunned look on her face. _‘I wasn’t expecting that! Not that I’m complaining. God now what do I do?’_ ran through her mind.

“You’re right Cordy,” Buffy spoke up, “She’s as subtle as a flying mallet.” All three girls laughed and pulled back a little from each other. Faith turned to Lorne, “Thanks for waitin’ with her. We appreciate it.”

“Yes, thanks,” Buffy looked at him. “We are grateful you stayed.”

Lorne started to slide out of the booth. “Cordy is a dear friend, and I enjoyed the time I spent with her.” He smiled at the three girls and gently touched Cordelia’s arm as he stood. He gave her a quick hug and whispered in her ear. “Trust yourself and trust them. That’s all you need to do.”

 “Ready to go?” Faith asked. Buffy nodded and looked at Cordelia. She had a smirk on her face.

“Seeing as we’re staying at my place, I guess we all have to go together.”

Faith leered at Cordy, “If B and I promise to put on another show, I’m sure Dennis will let us in.”

Cordelia laughed at Buffy’s blush, “Yeah, but only if you let me watch!”


	19. Chapter 19

The three girls stepped into the alley from the club. Cordy linked her arms with Faith and Buffy as they walked towards the street. A man stepped out of the shadows in front of the girls and stopped in the center of the alley. They couldn’t see his face because of the light behind him. “Can we help you?” Buffy asked, squinting to try and make out his face.

A ripping sound filled the air around them as he emptied the clip from the silenced Uzi into them. Cordelia, lying on the pavement in the alley, felt the life leaking from her body. She focused through the pain to see a cold smile on Wesley’s face.

“Business.” was all he said as he raised the silenced 45. Cordelia saw the flame front leave the silencer...


	20. Chapter 20

“What the hell!” Cordelia screamed as she bolted upright, covered in sweat. Seconds later Faith and Buffy burst into the room and flipped the light on.

“What’s wrong?” Buffy asked as she moved to the side of the bed. Faith quickly looked around the room and then moved next to Buffy.

“It was horrible,” Cordelia said, dropping her head into her hands. “We’d just left the club...”

“And someone stepped into the alley...” Faith said quietly.

Buffy looked from Cordelia to Faith. “Then shot the three of us.” she finished.

Shaking, Cordelia stared wide-eyed at the two slayers. “How did you know?”

Buffy glanced at Faith, who nodded. “We had the same dream.”

Cordelia blinked while she processed the thought. She pulled the blankets a little tighter around herself. “Let me get this straight.” She paused and took a deep breath. “You two,” she waved a finger between the two slayers, “Had the same dream I did?”

“Yeah,” was all Faith said. Buffy nodded at Cordelia as an answer.

Cordelia chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Why would Wesley kill us?” she asked nervously.

Buffy and Faith both blinked at Cordelia, “No,” they said in unison. They looked at each other for a second.

“It was Giles,” said Buffy.

Faith’s eyebrows shot up. “In my dream it was Rose, my watcher.” She shrugged, “I know,” cutting Buffy off before she could say anything. “She’s been dead for more’n two years now,” she explained to Cordelia.

“What does it mean?” Cordelia asked.

Buffy sat down on the bed and scooted next to Cordelia. She looked up at Faith, and shrugged. “I’m not really sure,” she said quietly as Cordelia leaned into her. “If it’s like the other slayer dreams I’ve had, it’s kind of like a premonition.”

Faith nodded as Buffy spoke. “Yeah, it means that there’s somethin’ comin’, but it may not be exactly what we saw.”

“You’re not making me feel any better,” Cordelia snarked. “We all saw somebody kill us, but it may or may not happen?”

“Pretty much,” Faith replied.

“Usually, we talk to Giles and try to figure it out,” Buffy added. “We’ll probably see him tomorrow evening, so we’ll talk to him then.”

Faith looked at the two girls sitting on the bed and tapped her lips with her finger. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Buffy and Cordelia stared back at her.

“Why not?” Buffy asked.

“Not sure,” Faith furrowed her brow as she spoke. “We all had the same dream, but with different people. The only thing they had in common is they all work for the Council. Or did.”

Two sets of eyes widened as what Faith had said sunk in.

“Why would they do that?” Cordelia asked quietly. “I’ve never worked for them. Do they even know I exist?”

Buffy put her arm around Cordelia to calm the girl. “It may not be that bad. It just might be a warning that the Council is up to something that involves the three of us.” Cordelia stared at her.

“Hello!” she yelled. “We all had the same dream! We all got shot and died! It seems a lot more than a warning!”

Faith put both her hands up. “Whoa Queen C, calm down there. Did it feel like one of your visions?”

Cordelia pulled her knees up to her chest and crossed her arms over them. “No, not really. The clarity was there, but I don’t feel as exhausted as I usually do. I also don’t have a headache. But I’ve never had a vision that ended up with me dead either!”

Faith yawned and stretched. “I’m tired, so I’m gonna go back to sleep. We can talk about this in the mornin’.”

“Yeah,” Buffy started to move off the bed. “Tomorrow will be soon enough to talk about it.”

“Umm,” Cordelia looked down at the bedspread and started to fidget with the edge of it. “Would you, umm, both of you, uhh, mind staying with me?”

Faith grinned at her. “Gee, I ain’t sure. Do you think there’s enough room in that thing for the three of us?”

Buffy snickered as she elbowed Faith.

“What?” Cordelia looked around at her bed. “It’s a king size, of course there’s enough room.”

Buffy laughed at Faith’s grin. “I think she’s teasing you, Cordy.”

“Well what?” the brunette huffed. “A girl needs to be comfortable when she sleeps.”

“Yup, her and six of her closest friends,” Faith shot back.

“Fine, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” Cordelia glared at Faith.

“I’ll stay,” Buffy smiled. “It looks a lot more comfortable than the floor.”

That’s true,” Faith replied. “I guess I’ll stay.”

“Hmmph,” was all Cordelia said as she lay back down. Faith smirked as she crossed the room to turn out the lights. Buffy crawled under the covers next to Cordelia.

“You get the other side,” she said to Faith. She laughed quietly and shook her head as she crossed the room. The light from the street filtered through to show her the way. The other two girls could feel the bed move slightly as Faith got in. She shuffled the blankets around a little and snuggled down.

“Night,” she said quietly.

“G’night,” the other two replied. The three of them lay quietly for a few minutes. Faith had rolled over on her side away from Cordelia, and Buffy just stared at the ceiling.

“Cordy,” Buffy said as she rolled to face her. “I’m going to kiss you.”

“Oh,” was the nervous reply. Faith rolled back and propped herself up on her elbow.

Looking towards Buffy, she asked “Did you want me to go?”

“No,” Buffy’s voice had dropped and it sent a chill up Faith’s spine. ”You’re next.”

“Fine with me, Queen C?”

“Umm, I, uhh, guess. Actually this is, umm, all new and uhh, kind of sudden for me,” she stammered.

“We won’t do anything you don’t wanna do,” Faith said softly. “If ya get uncomfortable, just say so.”

“Uhh, okay.” Cordelia’s knuckles had turned white with her grip on the covers.

Buffy reached over and gently touched Cordelia’s cheek. “Just relax, I’ve kissed you before.”

“Yes, but not in my bed.”

Buffy smiled at Cordelia’s response. “Remember, Cordy, I’m fairly new at this too.”

“H-how long?”

Buffy glanced up at Faith with a warm smile, “About two weeks. Since a gorgeous slayer dropped into my life.”

“And?”

“It’s so totally worth it.”

“Faith?”

“Yeah, Cordy?”

“Have you had some experience with this?” Cordelia’s voice was very small.

Faith rolled onto her side to face Cordelia. She put her hand out and gently touched Cordelia’s cheek, then Buffy’s. “Yeah, I have.”

“Well at least somebody knows what the hell is going on.” Buffy and Faith both laughed at her. “What? It’s important!”

“Yes, Cordy, it is.” Buffy brushed her lips across Cordelia’s cheek, as she slid her arm across the blanket and pulled her close. Cordelia turned her head towards Buffy and met her lips. The seconds ticked by as Faith watched the two of them. She could feel the passion between the two girls rising through their connection. _‘This is gonna be great!’_ she thought as she licked her lips. Buffy and Cordelia came up for air.

“Wow,” Cordelia wheezed. “That was incredible; I’ve never been kissed like that in my life!” She blinked and waited a second for her heart rate to decrease. “And you,” she turned to Faith, “I could feel you too!”

“I know, it’s the connection we share.” Faith’s voice had dropped to a smoky level. She lowered her head and captured Cordelia’s lips with her own. She ran her tongue along Cordelia’s bottom lip asking for entrance. Cordelia moaned as Faith’s tongue gently passed her lips. Faith’s tongue danced with Cordelia’s. Minutes later she broke away from her and turned to Buffy. Cordelia watched from below as the two girls kissed and touched. The connection between the three of them sizzled. Faith and Buffy pulled apart and looked at Cordelia. “I’ve never seen or felt anything like that in my life! That connection thingy? It felt like I was kissing you both at the same time! What else does it do?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” Faith drawled. The three women started to kiss each other in turn. Cordelia pushed the covers down off the three of them. She slid an arm along each of the slayers feeling the heat radiating off of them. Buffy slid a hand under Faith’s wife beater as she kissed her, revelling in the silken touch of her skin. Faith broke the kiss and pulled back. In one swift motion the shirt was gone. Cordelia’s eyebrows tried to crawl off her forehead. Faith bent down to kiss her. As their lips touched, Buffy rolled out of bed and stripped off her pajamas. Cordelia placed a hand on each side of Faith and pulled her down on top of her. Buffy slowly crawled onto the bed, watching the seer and the slayer. Faith broke away from Cordelia and rose up to kiss Buffy. Cordelia stared at Faith’s breasts hanging in front of her. Slowly her hand came up and she gently dragged a finger across her erect nipple. Faith moaned into Buffy’s kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Cordelia squeaked as she snatched her hand back. “I didn’t mean to...”

Faith sat back on her haunches and looked down at Cordelia. “It’s okay.” she whispered. Smiling she reached down and took Cordelia’s hand in hers. “I want you to touch me like that.” She opened Cordelia’s palm and brought it up to her breast, “I need you to touch me like that, okay?” Faith closed her eyes and sighed as Cordelia’s soft hands contacted her skin. Cordelia felt the nipple pucker under her palm. She slid her hand to the side and rubbed her thumb over the hardened nub. Faith moaned again. Cordelia looked at Buffy for a second then raised her other hand towards her. Buffy leaned forward to meet it. Cordelia softly took Buffy’s breast and lifted it, to feel the weight on her hand. She squeezed it gently, then let it down. She was still massaging Faith’s nipple with her other hand. She pinched Buffy’s nipple between her thumb and forefinger and rolled it. Buffy grunted as her nipple hardened with Cordelia’s touch. She moved forward and kissed Cordelia hard. She lowered herself alongside the seer, her tongue probing her mouth, her arm stretched across, touching Faith’s thigh. Faith pulled away and flopped on her back. She quickly disposed of her boxer shorts, and snuggled into Cordelia’s right side. Buffy pulled her arm out from under Faith and moved it slowly up and down her back. She pulled back from Cordelia and turned to the other slayer.

“Somebody seems to be overdressed,” she said as she started to tug on Cordelia’s pajama top.

“Yeah,” Faith replied, “seems that way don’t it?” she was smirking at the seer as she started to pull at the material.

Cordelia started to flail underneath the two slayers, “No, hold it,” she said, squirming, “Stop please!” The two slayers quickly moved away from her and Cordelia scrambled out of bed.

“Cordelia,” Faith said softly, “We’re sorry, we didn’t mean to...” Cordelia was facing the door and she waved a hand at Faith to stop her.

“No,” she replied, “I just need a second.” She stood there for a few moments, then turned on the lights, while the slayers watched her. She slowly turned and looked at Faith, then to Buffy. “I need to know what’s going on,” she whispered. She looked away from the two girls and started to rub her hands together. She looked down at them. “I want to know what this means to you. I was a virgin until that demon got a hold of me.”

“What?” Buffy yelped, “All those guys at school?”

Cordelia looked at her and shrugged. “What about them?”

“Well,” Buffy looked down at the floor. “There are a number of them that said you, umm, you know, weren’t exactly virginal.” She blushed as she looked at Cordelia.

Cordelia’s hands went to her hips and she pinned Buffy with a glare. “They’re High School boys. You should know better than to believe what they tell you. I’ve given a lot of hand jobs, but I’ve never found anyone I wanted to give anything else to.” She looked at each of them again. “Until now.”

“Thank you,” Faith said and smiled at her and stretched across the bed. “So what else is botherin’ ya?”

Cordelia huffed and looked around the room. “Is this a one night stand, or something else?” She crossed her arms and hugged herself while she waited. Faith sat up to move behind Buffy and wrapped her body around the blonde.

“I can’t tell ya how everythin’s gonna turn out, but I’m willin’ to give this a shot. B?’

Buffy leaned back in Faith’s arms and gave her a quick kiss. “You heard what Lorne said, and from what Faith said in the bar, I think you’re stuck with us.”

“What did Faith say?” Cordelia’s eyebrow slowly rose, as she waited for an answer.

Buffy smiled warmly, “Nobody hurts our girl.” Cordelia smiled back at the two slayers snuggled on the bed.

“I can work with that.” She clasped her hands in front of herself and looked down at them again. “I’m nervous as hell.”

Buffy smirked at her standing there. “I don’t just give it up for anybody either you know.”

Cordelia snickered and quickly ducked her head. “That’s not what I heard.”

“What?” Buffy shrieked. “Who said that?!” Faith was trying to hold the laughter in as Buffy struggled to get away from her.

Cordelia lifted her head towards Buffy with a grin that lit up her face. “You are so easy, Summers.”

Buffy flushed and tried to elbow Faith, “What are you laughing at?”

“Nothin’,” Faith replied as she held onto the blonde. She looked up to Cordelia. “Are you gonna join us?”

She looked at the two slayers then shook her head. “I paid $300 for these,” holding her arms out. “They’re Chinese brocaded silk. I’m just going to take them off first. I don’t want anyone tearing them in a fit of passion.”

“They did feel really nice, Queen C,” Faith smirked. “Maybe I can borrow ’em some time.”

Cordelia responded with a snort and flipped off the lights. “For that, no show.”

“Thanks, Faith,” Buffy teased and kissed the dark slayer again. Faith released the blonde and moved to the far side of the bed. Buffy followed her and they both waited for Cordelia to join them. She crawled onto the bed and lay on her side next to Buffy. Faith’s mouth covered Buffy’s, and she moaned into the kiss. Cordelia tentatively rested her hand on Buffy’s stomach. She could feel the heat coming off the slayer. Buffy covered Cordelia’s hand with her own, then pulled it up to her breast. She circled the nipple with her finger and watched it stretch. She kissed along Buffy’s shoulder tasting the flesh she found there. Buffy groaned as she gently rolled the nipple between her thumb and forefinger. Buffy pulled away from Faith and turned to the seer. “That’s wonderful, Cordy,” she panted, then pulled her into a kiss. Faith sucked the other nipple into her mouth as her hand drew circles on the blonde’s stomach. Buffy slid her legs apart in invitation to Faith. The dark slayers hand slid downwards and cupped Buffy’s pussy. Buffy’s hips arched in response to Faith’s movements. Slowly moving her fingers through the girl’s wetness, she released the breast in her mouth and trailed her tongue down her abdomen. Faith shifted her body to between the blonde’s legs and slowly started to kiss along her inner thigh. She trailed light kisses along one and then up the other missing her heated core. The blonde was bucking to try and find contact with Faith’s tongue. She broke away from Cordelia’s kiss, “Faith,” she breathed, “Please...” Her head snapped back and her body arched as Faith dragged the flat of her tongue along Buffy’s slit. She could taste the sweetness that was Buffy’s own.

Cordelia was watching Faith between the blonde’s thighs, feeling her own dampness grow. She could feel Buffy and Faith through their connection. _‘I can hardly wait till somebody does that to me!’_ she thought. She turned her head slightly and looked at the breast by her head. She moved slightly and ran her tongue over the still nipple. She felt the sparks as Buffy reacted to her touch. _“That was me! I did that!”_ Raising herself slightly, she sucked the nipple into her mouth and ran her tongue over it again.

“Yesss...” Buffy groaned. Cordelia smiled and reach for the other nipple.

Faith’s tongue was slipping in and out of the blond spread out before her. She would slide it up and circle Buffy’s clit, then back down and plunge it into her again. She looked up to see Cordelia working on Buffy’s breasts and she smiled. _‘Time to see what this girl can do.’_ Buffy whimpered when Faith pulled away from her aching pussy.

“Uhh, Fuck,” she moaned as Faith slid two fingers into her. Cordelia’s eyes widened as she watched. Faith blew a kiss at the seer, then lowered her mouth to Buffy’s clit. She started to thrust her fingers in and out of the blond. As she pumped her fingers, she ran her tongue over her engorged clit. Buffy was meeting Faith with her hips, when she sucked her clit into her mouth. Cordelia could feel Buffy gripping the sheets as her hips pushed up to meet Faith’s mouth. The connection between the three was getting stronger as Buffy approached her orgasm. Cordelia had moved her mouth to Buffy’s other breast, so she was lying across the slayer, pinning her to the bed. Faith was flicking her clit with her tongue and thrusting hard into the blond. Buffy tensed and her walls contracted around Faith’s fingers as she came. Faith curled her fingers up inside her and continued to suck her clit to prolong the orgasm.

Buffy groaned and thrashed in the grasp of her orgasm. Cordelia was hanging on for dear life as she rode the slayer.

“Holy crap, Faith, what did you do to her?” Cordelia yelped as Buffy collapsed, gasping, back onto the bed.

Faith was smirking at the seer, “I thought it was fairly obvious.”

Cordelia smiled and shook her head as Faith sat up from between Buffy’s legs. She pulled herself off of the blonde and looked towards the dark slayer. As Faith slowly leaned towards Cordelia, she placed a hand behind her head and gently pulled her into a kiss.

_‘She’s covered in Buffy... And kissing me!’_ ran through Cordelia’s mind as she responded to Faith’s kiss. Cordelia’s tongue reached into Faith’s mouth and tasted the combination of the two slayers. _‘That’s something I’ve never done before. One kiss, two women. I like it,’_ she thought, smiling to herself.

Buffy pushed herself onto her elbows and watched the other two girls kissing. She sat up slowly and stretched, “Thanks, that was fantastic.”

The two girls pulled apart and smiled at her. “Yer welcome B.” Faith smiled as Buffy reached for her and kissed her. She then turned to Cordelia and did the same. She sighed and scooched back to lean against the headboard. “Come here, Faith,” she said. She patted the space between her legs. “Sit here and lean against me.” Faith turned and did as she was told. Buffy wrapped her arms around the dark slayer and hugged her close.

Cordelia looked at the two snuggled together against the headboard. _‘Hmm,’_ she thought, _‘this looks good.’_ She moved over and straddled Faith, leaning forward to kiss her gently. She pulled back from kissing Faith and looked at Buffy, “Two slayers, no waiting.” Leaning against Faith, she kissed Buffy, sliding her tongue into her mouth. Faith wrapped Cordelia in her arms and held her. Cordelia sat back after a few moments and looked at Faith. “I’ve never done anything like this before, so I’m sorry if it’s not very good.”

Faith reached up and cupped Cordelia’s cheek with her hand. “You’ll do fine.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes, “We’ll see what you have to say after I’m done.”

She moved up and kissed Buffy gently again, then sat squarely in front of Faith. She let her eyes slowly move up and down the body of the dark slayer, stopping when she reached her eyes. Cordy sucked in her lower lip then let out a whoosh of air. She smiled at Faith, put a hand on each of her shoulders, then leaned in and kissed her. Tongues battled back and forth for few moments, until Cordelia pulled back again. She moved to the right of Faith and sucked her earlobe into her mouth. She trailed a line of kisses along her jaw to the other ear and gently nibbled on it. She let the ear go and kissed Buffy, “While I’m here.” The blonde smiled as Cordelia went back to Faith’s neck. Nipping and kissing her she moved her head slowly back down her neck, stopping to suck on her pulse point. Faith moaned, moving her hands up and down Cordelia’s back. She shuffled back along Faith’s legs, opening a space between them. Cordelia slowly laid a line of kisses along the top of her chest. Buffy placed a hand under each of Faith’s breasts and lifted them towards Cordelia.

“Your choice,” she smiled at the seer.

Cordelia lowered her head and wrapped her lips around Faith’s left breast. Faith groaned as Buffy’s fingers pulled on her right one. “Oh yeah, that’s good!” she growled. Her back arched, pushing herself towards Cordelia. She scraped her teeth along the sensitive nipple as it slid out of her mouth. Faith’s eyes rolled into the back of her head while Cordelia trailed kisses to the right one. Buffy moved her fingers out of the way and reached for Faith’s left.

“Tag, you’re it.” Cordelia chuckled as she watched the blonde switch. Faith sucked in her bottom lip with a groan when Cordelia inhaled her nipple.

“Oooh,” Faith moaned, “That feels good...”

Cordelia’s tongue slowly circled Faith’s erect nipple, sucking cool air over top of it. Faith’s head rolled to the side as she groaned. Cordelia smiled and nipped at the hard little bud in her mouth. She released the nipple and dragged her tongue back across Faith’s chest to the other one again. She sucked it past her teeth and rolled it with her tongue.

Buffy leaned forward and ran her tongue around the shell of Faith’s ear, then kissed down the length of her neck, her hands gently kneading her breasts at the same time. Faith was enjoying the attention of the two women.

Cordelia released the nipple from her mouth and sat back on Faith’s legs. She smiled gently at the two slayers and moved off of Faith. “Faith, slide down a little.”

Faith turned and brushed Buffy’s lips with her own. She moved herself towards the foot of the bed, smiling as Buffy’s breasts popped up over her shoulders. “Cool.” was all she said.

Cordelia shook her head when Buffy giggled. “You two are dorks.” She shifted herself to sit in front of Faith. Tucking a hand under each of the slayers knees, she lifted and moved them apart. “Need a little room to work here.” She lowered her head and placed a kiss on Faith’s left knee, and then slowly left a trail of kisses down the inside of her thigh. She could smell Faith’s arousal as she moved her head to Faith’s right thigh. She sucked on it for a second, as she laid out flat between the slayers legs. She stared at the tightly trimmed curls and puffy lips in front of her. She looked up at the two slayers watching her. “Wish me luck.”

Faith and Buffy both smiled supportively at the seer. “You ain’t gotta do it if you don’t want to,” Faith said.

“I want to make you flop around like Buffy did,” Cordelia replied. The two slayers laughed.

“I hope ya do!” Faith grinned.

Cordelia snaked her arms under Faith’s legs and placed her hands on her hips. She nervously glanced up at Faith once more then lowered her head towards her wet center. Faith groaned when Cordelia gently blew across the top of her clit. She quietly stared at Faith’s pussy for a few moments.

“I’ve never seen one this close before.” She licked her lips slowly, “It’s neat.”

Cordelia’s tongue moved out of her mouth as she moved towards Faith.

“Yeah baby, that’s it,” Faith moaned when Cordelia dragged her tongue the length of her slit. Buffy gently tugged on Faith’s nipples while she watched Cordelia’s head moving between Faith’s thighs. She could feel the growing dampness between her own thighs again.

Cordelia moved her head closer to Faith and pushed her tongue between Faith’s outer lips, really tasting her for the first time. _‘Wow, that’s tangy! Hmm, I like it, which is probably a good thing.’_ She pushed her tongue closer and felt Faith’s warm walls surround it. She covered Faith with her lips and started to move her tongue in and out of her pussy. A groaning Faith started to buck her hips in time with Cordelia’s tongue.

“That’s it, Queen C. Yer doin’ great.” She pulled her tongue out, and circled Faith’s clit with it. “That’s the money shot!” Buffy rolled Faith’s nipples as she squeezed her breasts. Cordelia stuffed her tongue back into the dark slayer and started to move it faster. Faith’s hips matched her strokes again. After a few moments Cordelia pulled out again and sucked Faith’s clit into her mouth. She slid her right hand out from under the slayers leg and ran her finger along the lips below her chin. “Please C, fuck meee!” Faith squeezed out from between clenched teeth. Cordelia gently moved a finger around until she felt Faith’s soaked opening. Still sucking on her clit she slowly slid it into the slayer. Faith groaned and clutched onto Buffy’s arms as Cordelia’s finger picked up speed.

Cordelia stopped and fearfully looked at Faith, “Am I hurting you?”

“God, no. It feels good,” Faith panted. “Yer doin’ good.” She smiled at Cordelia and shakily cupped her cheek with her hand. “You sure you’ve never done this before?”

“I think I would remember if I had.” Cordelia dropped her head back into the vee of Faith’s legs. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“It’s gonna take a lot more than a finger to hurt me babe.”

Cordelia glanced back at Faith, “Is two okay?”

“Two’ll be fine.” Cordelia nodded and looked back down to Faith’s wet pussy. Faith groaned when she sucked her clit back into her mouth. Slowly she slipped two fingers into Faith’s tunnel, feeling the muscles clench the length of her fingers. Cordelia’s fingers picked up speed and Faith’s hips moved with her.

“That’s the stuff baby,” Faith pantingly encouraged her.

“I can feel you getting close.” Buffy whispered across Faith’s ear. “Does this help?” she asked as she tugged again on the brunettes stiff nipples.

“M-Mhmm.” was all the dark slayer could reply.

Cordelia flicked her clit faster with her tongue and stepped up the pace of her fingers in and out of Faith. She could feel the tension in the dark one increasing the faster they moved. _‘I’m going to make her cum, I can feel her getting so close, and it’s getting me hot as well. This is a definite bonus!’_ she thought.

“Oh fuck, yeah, right there,” Faith mumbled. She gripped Buffy’s arms as her body stiffened. Her hips bucked once, twice, then her whole body started to vibrate. Cordelia slammed her fingers into Faith one last time then curled them up to find her g-spot. “Mmm, yeah. Fuck, yeah.” Faith thrashed her head from side to side. The tremors slowly faded and she gasped for breath. Cordelia looked up at the two slayers and raised an eyebrow.

“So?” she asked nervously.

Buffy smiled at her, and said “Not really sure, but I think you did okay. When Faith comes back to earth you’ll have to ask her again.”

Cordelia moved up to a kneeling position between Faith’s legs. She looked at Faith for a second, and then turned to Buffy. She leaned towards Buffy, “Have you ever tasted Faith?” Buffy shook her head, and Cordelia leaned in and kissed her. Her tongue sought entrance to Buffy’s mouth and they both moaned when contact was made.

Faith heard the moan next to her ear. She blinked and focused her eyes on the two girls next to her. She smiled at the sight, before reaching up to pull Cordelia into a tight embrace. “Thanks C, you were fuckin’ brilliant,” she whispered into Cordelia’s ear. “Your turn now.” She ran her tongue around the shell of Cordelia’s ear, and sucked the lobe into her mouth. Cordelia moved her hand behind Buffy’s head, and deepened the kiss. Faith moved her mouth down Cordelia’s neck and along her shoulder, nipping and biting as she went. It sent a shiver through Cordelia when she moved back to the base of her neck. “You like that?” Faith asked quietly.

Cordelia broke away from Buffy and looked at Faith, “Yes, I do.” She closed her eyes and smiled when Faith picked up from where she had stopped.

“Faith,” Buffy spoke up, “I want, umm, to, ahh, taste her? If that’s okay?”

“I’m okay with that. C?” Faith replied.

Cordelia looked between the two girls, “Something tells me it doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure I’m going to let everyone here have a turn. I just feel like sharing for some odd reason.”

Buffy and Faith giggled at the seer. “Don’t we feel special, eh B? C says she’s gonna share.”

Cordelia raised an eyebrow and snorted. “Damn right,” she said as she moved her hand up and down her body, displaying it. “I don’t offer this up to just any Faith or Buffy!”

Faith shook her head with a smile. “You’re somethin’. That’s fer damn sure!” She moved away from Buffy and stretched out along the right side of the bed. The other two just watched as she stretched and sighed. “I feel wonderful, C. Thanks.”

Cordelia blushed and lowered her head. “You’re welcome.” Buffy pushed herself down the bed until Cordelia’s knees were touching her sex. “Come here.” She opened her arms to the seer. Cordelia lowered herself onto Buffy with a shy grin. Buffy brought her lips up to Cordelia’s and gently brushed past them. “I’m going to make you happy.” She kissed the seer again, and then pulled away. “If you’re not comfortable, tell me and I’ll stop. We’re doing this for you.” She flicked her eyes towards Faith, who nodded in agreement.

Cordelia looked into Buffy’s hazel eyes. “Shut up and fuck me. I’m dying here, okay?” Buffy’s eyes widened as Faith laughed.

“She seems to be a little pushy B.”

“I agree,” Buffy smiled up at Cordelia, “And I think I’m going to give her what she wants.” With a quick move, Buffy had flipped Cordelia over on her back and was now straddling her. “Your wish is my command, Queen C.” Buffy leaned forward, and kissed her. Faith watched the two as the intensity of the kiss increased. Buffy pulled back from Cordelia’s lips and trailed a line down her jaw. She stopped and lightly bit the base of her neck. “You said you liked that.” The seer just moaned in response. Buffy kissed her way to Cordelia’s left breast, and circled her nipple with her tongue. She dragged her tongue across her chest and circled her other nipple. Cordelia gasped when Buffy sucked it past her teeth, into her mouth. She brought her hand up to the other one and rolled the nipple between her fingers. After a few moments, Buffy shifted her weight to one side, before pushing her leg between Cordelia’s thighs. Cordelia could feel the slickness from the slayer as she slid down her leg. Buffy nestled her thigh into Cordelia’s heat. She rocked her hips slowly, pushing her thigh against her. Cordelia moaned with the friction and she could feel the tension building in her core. Buffy switched breasts again, causing Cordelia to gasp as the cool air hit her heated nipple. She pushed her chest up towards Buffy when she inhaled her other one. Buffy swabbed it with her tongue for a few moments, and then pulled her head back till it popped out of her mouth. She looked to see Faith stretched along the edge of the bed. She was watching them with dark orbs, her hand between her legs, and her fingers lazily stroking herself.

“Don’t stop on my account.” It rolled out of her in a low smoky drawl. Buffy shivered when she heard it and the corners of her mouth turned up.

“Glad we can help.” She bent down again and trailed a line of kisses between Cordelia’s breasts. She flicked her belly button with her tongue, causing the seer to groan again.

“Buffy,” the seer moaned, “Please...”

“Relax, Cordy, I’m getting there.” She pushed herself further down the seer, putting her hand on her leg and pushed it a little wider. When she moved into the space she’d created, Cordelia moved her other leg so the blonde had easy access to her core. Buffy lightly dragged her nails along the inner thighs, coming close but not touching Cordelia’s pussy.

“Buffy! I need you!” Cordelia whined.

“And have me you shall.”

Buffy kissed first one thigh, then the other, as she made her way down Cordelia’s legs. She tentatively touched her outer lips with her tongue. She pulled it back in and let the taste roll around her mouth. She could smell Cordelia’s arousal and the musky scent just added to the flavour. She reached forward and gently pulled the lips apart. She moved her tongue along the length of Cordy’s slit.

“OHmygod!” rushed out of the brunette.

Buffy smiled and moved her tongue up and around the little pearl in front of her. Cordelia started to shake. Buffy circled it again, and the seer started to squeal. It changed to a sob when Buffy lightly flicked it. The blonde slayer smiled and sucked it into her mouth. Cordelia’s back arched and lifted Buffy part way off the bed. _’Jesus, she’s stronger than she looks!’_ she thought. Cordelia collapsed back onto the bed, gasping for air. Buffy brought a finger up to Cordelia’s soaked hole, and gently rubbed it. She released her clit, and looked at the seer. “Relax, Cordy, okay? If you’re not, tell me.”

“Yeah,” she gasped, “I’ll be okay.”

Buffy watched her as she slowly slid inside the girl. Her hips rolled a little as she pushed it in. She paused for a second then slowly pulled it almost out. Cordelia’s hips were matching the slayers movements. Buffy lowered her head and covered her clit with her mouth. She sucked on it gently and rubbed her tongue across the top of it.

“OH, FUCK YES!” Cordelia wailed.

Buffy started moving her hand faster, her tongue picking up speed as well. Cordelia’s head was thrashing around on the bed and the sheets were trapped in a death grip. Buffy could feel her getting close, so she added a second finger to the brunette. The wetness was running down her hand as she pumped into her. Cordelia suddenly went stiff as her walls clenched Buffy’s fingers. Then she cried out and started thrashing her legs around. She rolled away from Buffy, curled into a ball twitching and moaning.

Wide-eyed Buffy stared at Faith. She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I think you broke her.”

Buffy reached out to the seer, “Cordelia?” she said as she laid her hand on the girl.

“Don’t,” she spat out, “Don’ttouchme!” the girl twitched a few more times, then slowly started to shiver. The two slayers watched her intently, trying to figure out what had happened.

“Cordy?” Buffy spoke quietly, “Are you okay?” The seer’s head seemed to nod, but the girls weren’t sure. A few moments later Cordelia let go of her knees and started to uncoil herself. She rolled onto her side and opened her arms to Buffy. The blonde slowly moved towards her, not wanting to spook the girl. Cordelia grabbed her, pulled her into a hug and started to cry into Buffy’s shoulder.

“Thank you.” she sobbed. “Thank you, thank you.” She was crying on Buffy’s shoulder.

”Yup,” Faith spoke up, “You broke her.”

Cordelia giggled through her tears, “I’m not broken. I’ve never felt anything like that in my life. I’m still seeing spots in front of my eyes.” She relaxed her death grip on Buffy a little and looked over to Faith. “You even think of telling anybody about me crying, and I’ll hunt you down.”

“I don’t know about Faith,” Buffy smiled, “But you’re certainly scaring me.” She moved her head over and kissed Cordelia. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, I am.” Cordelia released Buffy and rolled over on her back. “I’m still all tingly. I’ve had orgasms before, but I’ve never had one where I can feel my brain bouncing around my skull.” She gave Buffy a 1000 watt smile, “What did Faith say? Right, ‘You were fucking brilliant!’”


End file.
